Lock
by RedVoid
Summary: "You have two choices." Began the judge from the right. "You can offer your services to the Soul Society and work as a shinigami or die." Shi gulped. "I-I will take the first option, sir." [HIATUS]
1. Prologue

**To my new readers: This is a Gin/OC story. ****This is the first long fanfic I'm publishing so, please, be nice with me. Constructive criticism is more than welcome ;). Also, I did my best, but english is my second language, so if you see any errors please let me know that I will fix them as soon as possible. I will update at least once a month**.

**To my old readers: Here's the new prologue! I hope it's better than the last one. Even if just a little... ;)**

**********Disclaimer (valid for all the chapters) : I don't own Bleach nor its characters. I only own the plot and OCs.**

**The plot begins a year before Rukia goes to the real world and meets Ichigo.**

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Somewhere in Italy, inside a big and luxurious mansion, two people were sitting on the couch in the living room drinking red wine. The living room was mobilized with a big leather couch that was standing in front of a fireplace and two matching leather armchairs one by each of its sides. One of the people was a handsome man that looked to be around his early thirties; he was tall, standing around 180 cm, had a well-toned body, short red hair and green eyes. The other one was a pretty 15 year old girl who had waist-length dark blonde hair, light brown eyes and a well-shaped body; with her 165 cm of height she was tall for a girl her age. It was clear that they didn't intend to go anywhere that night by theirs outfits; the man was wearing black sweatpants and a long-sleeved blue shirt while the girl was wearing red pajamas that gave her a child-like aspect and a lock necklace around her neck.

"Did you understand everything you've got to do?" Asked the man.

The girl stopped sipping her drink and sighed. "For the tenth time: yes, master. I did."

"Then list what you've got to do after we get in the Seireitei."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Oh God, not again…" The redhead smacked her head, not hard enough to hurt though. "Alright, alright. If the shinigami find out we are there I have to hide until you find a way to direct their attention to something else. Then I have to go inside the zanpakutous deposit and seal its entrance. After that is done I have got to find the door with the 'restrict' kanji carved on it and unlock it with the ritual you taught me. Af-"

"What do you have to do in the ritual?"

The girl rolled her eyes, earning another hit in the head. Glaring at the man she explained the ritual:

"First I have to draw a circular symbol on the door, around the lock, and an identical one on the ground, but bigger. Then I have to sit on the middle of it and concentrate 70% or more of my reiatsu in my left hand and hit the ground with it. Happy?"

The man sipped his wine, closing his eyes and smirking. "Very much so. Now continue."

"After I unlock the door, an alarm will be set off and shinigami will go there to check what is happening. The seal will be able to keep them out the deposit for about 5 minutes and, in these 5 minutes I have got to find a long sword. Its blade is 114 centimeters long and its guard looks like a small shield with two angel's wings. Then comes the difficult part: grab the sword and get out of the Seireitei."

Done with the explanation, the girl laid back on the couch, closing her eyes and sipping her wine. After some minutes in silence the girl opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, daydreaming. The man looked quizzically at her.

"What are you thinking about?"

She turned her eyes to him and stared for some moments. Then she asked smiling.

"I am going in a suicide mission am I not?"

The man snorted and said. "As if I would let you die after putting up with you for so long. Don't worry; I'll make sure you get out of there safe and sound." They made a toast, exchanging smirks and knowing looks.

After sipping her wine, the girl laid her head on the man's shoulder. "So… anxious about going back to Seireitei after more than 50 years away from the place?"

The man stared at the ground contemplatively. "I don't know… Of course I'm looking forward to see everyone again, but I'd rather reencounter them in other circumstances." The man sighed. "It'll be very awkward; a captain that was thought dead returning to the Seireitei after more 70 years to steal a zanpakutou."

"I understand." The girl rested her glass of wine on the floor and kneeled in front of the man, holding his hands and smiling up at him. "Do not worry, master; I am sure that after everything is done you will be able to talk with your friends again."

A soft smile stretched across the man's face. "I know, but I can't help to dread a little the outcome of everything; so much can happen."

"Relax, ok?" The girl raised herself and adopted an imposing posture and voice. "That is an order." She went back to sit on her place, but ended up tripping on her glass of wine, spilling the drink on the marble floor. "Damn it!" The man couldn't help but chuckle.

"I think you drank enough for tonight, Shi."

The girl, Shi, pouted. "I did not even finish the one glass of wine that you allow me to drink." Then she walked to the kitchen and grabbed a towel to clean up the mess.

The man smirked at the girl that was now cleaning the wine off the floor. "You didn't finish your drink only because you spilled it." The girl stuck her tongue out at him, making the man chuckle once again.

Once Shi had finished cleaning the floor, she turned to the sitting male with tired eyes. "I think I am going to sleep master." The girl bent down and kissed the man's cheek. "Sweet dreams."

The redhead smiled up at the girl. "Good night." His smile turned into a smirk. "Don't wet your bed, ok?"

Glaring at the redhead, the girl threw the towel on the man's head and went to her room to rest.

-The next day-

The man and the girl were walking on a wide and isolated camp on the outsides of Italy. The man was wearing jeans, a dress shirt and had a backpack on his shoulders and the girl was wearing simple black shorts, a red long sleeved shir, and the lock necklace from the night before around her neck.

They started their walk chatting normally, but stopped as they were getting closer to their destination; the girl was getting far too anxious to keep talking. Their destination was a sort of cave, formed by some big rocks. Inside the cave, the man moved a rectangular stone from the floor and under it was a hole.

Turning to the girl he smirked and bowed. "Ladies first."

Shi just rolled her eyes, but let out a chuckle none the less. Before jumping in, she turned to the man smirking.

"I wish you were that much of a gentleman when it comes to paying the restaurants' bills."

- In the hole-

Underground was a vast space that looked like a desert. The girl was looking around amazed by the existence of something like that under the ground; it was the first time her master had taken her there. Turning to the girl that had her back to him, the redhead started talking with a serious look on his face.

"You know what you've got to do once we get there right? Just for precaution I want you to list everything once more."

Shi's expression of awe was gone very soon. Turning to the man she stared blankly at him for some moments. "You are kidding me, right?"

Never dropping the serious face he said: "Do I look like I'm kidding?"

A major sweat drop formed behind the girl's head. "I see." Then she turned around and started looking for something on the floor.

Eye twitching, the man demanded. "Hey! I asked you a question! What the hell are you looking for anyway?" The girl said nothing and that made a huge vein appear on the man's forehead. "Stop ignoring me, god damn it! I'm talk- Hey, what's that rock for? Why are you aiming it at me? Put it down! PUT. IT-" WACK.

The teenager threw the rock at the redhead's head and knocked him out. With a smirk on her face, the girl stated to herself, since the redhead was most likely not able to hear her.

"Let us see if your brain starts working better now it was properly 'stimulated'."

After waking up, bandaging his bleeding forehead and smacking the girl in the head, repeatedly, the man resumed talking.

"Clearly we have already gone through the explanation of what you've got to do enough times. So l-"

"Who would have guessed it? Throwing a rock at your head did make your brain work better! Got to remember that in future." The girl said laughing her ass off.

"QUIET!" The girl stopped laughing but kept an amused smile on her face.

"As I was saying; let's start the operation." With that said the man put a funny glove on and hit the girl's forehead, separating her soul from her body and gave the glove to her to do the same to him. Both of them were wearing the shinigami's regular outfit, the only difference was that the girl had none zanpakutou tied to her waist. The man took two cloaks and cell phones out of the backpack. After they both had a cell phone each and were wearing their cloaks, he made the door that leads to the Soul Society appear before them.

Suddenly the air became serious and the girl lost the smile from her face. That was it. The moment she was training for in the last 7 months. It was time for her to get her own zanpakutou.

'_Well, it is show time!'_

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**I know that I didn't make many changes, but review please? **

**(Obs: this request is valid to all the edited chapters...)**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hope you enjoy chapter 1! =)**

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- In Yamamoto's office-

The 1st division's captain was sitting on a chair in his office, taking care of his duties as the leader of the Gotei 13 when his lieutenant came in, asking permission to speak. Sighing, the captain asked his lieutenant in a bored manner, thinking that nothing really serious had happened. "What is it Sasakibe?"

Bowing low, the lieutenant answered: "Yamamoto-soutaichou, the Senkaimon has been opened."

"So? It is opened many times everyday for the shinigami to go kill the hollows that appear on the real world."

"Sir, it was opened by someone from the real world, and two people came in through it, but they have no reiatsu or are hiding it. They are not shinigami working under the Seireitei, sir."

That got the 1st division's captain attention. He straightened his back and looked directly at his lieutenant.

"Alert all the shinigami that the Seireitei was invaded by ryoka and say that they must be captured alive; but don't order the shinigami to stop what they're doing just to search them, just make sure they know what's going on." The 1st division's lieutenant was about to leave the room when Yamamoto gave him one more order. "Also, just to be safe, put some of our non-ranked shinigami to guard the most important places in the Seireitei, namely the Central 46, the zanpakutous deposit and the daireishokairou."

"Hai, Yamamoto-soutaichou."

"_Attention! All the shinigami, attention! The Seireitei has been invaded by two ryoka. It is not known what they are capable of, how they look nor their reasons. It's not necessary to leave you posts to search for the ryoka, but, if you do encounter them, they must be captured alive for interrogation."_

- With Gin and Aizen-

Gin and Aizen were in the 5th division's captain's office discussing their plans when the announcement was made. Aizen was sitting at his desk and Gin was looking out of a window.

"Well, that's unexpected… Do ya have any idea who thes' are ryoka, Aizen-taichou?" Asked the 3rd division's captain, with a fox-like grin on his face that seemed to get wider with each word he said.

The brunette shook his head with a blank look on his face. "No, Gin, I can't even speculate. But I don't believe they pose any threat to our plans, so there's no need to worry about them."

"Hmmm… but can I have some fun with them? It has been so much time since somethin' excitin' has happened around here…"

At hearing this, the 5th division's captain turned to his partner with a malicious smile on his face and an evil glint in his eyes; a look that only the silver haired fox had seen so far.

"As if I would deny you your fun Gin.… That is something a selfish person, that doesn't care for others, would do. Just make sure you don't do anything that could expose our plans, or else you'll respond directly to me. Understood?"

The silver-haired captain's grin widened and he turned around to leave the room. "Understood, Aizen-taichou."

- With the 'ryoka'-

Shi and Ryuu were inside of what seemed a storage room; there were lots of boxes, bags and weapons neatly pilled in there. Both had taken their cloaks off and were looking for a sword to the girl. The man found one; it was a simple katana, but it would do.

"Here, tie this to your waist so it looks like a zanpakutou; they have already noticed that we got in here, but we're well disguised so there's no need to hide and wait, but make sure that no one sees you getting in the zanpakutous deposit. Understood?"

The girl finished tying the sword and nodded to the man.

"Good. I will be acting as a regular shinigami and keep myself as close as possible to the deposit in case anything goes wrong. Now, if you have to interact with someone, don't hide all of your reiatsu or else they will know that you are not from here, but don't release it all, your reiatsu is…different, and very big, and that will get you lots of attention. If the operation ends up taking us more than a day you are to send me a message with the cellphone I gave you to let me know if you're okay. Also, now I'm Ao Ryuu and you're Tenno Shinoka."

"A-Alright…"

The man stared at the girl in front of him. Her head was low and she was shaking a bit. He held her face with both hands, putting one on each cheek, and raised her head to make her look in his eyes. He smiled a fatherly smile. "Relax. We've practiced a lot and you're very bright. You will do just fine."

The girl's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. '_He never gave me this kind of compliment before.'_After recovering herself from the shock the girl smiled at the man and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, master."

Then she let go and went out, running to the deposit.

The redhead watched the girl go with a worried expression. _'I hope she remembers everything I said to her…' _

"Good luck, Shi."

- With Shi-

Shi was running at random through the Seireitei, trying to find her way to the 1st division, where the zanpakutous deposit was. '_Damn! All these corridors look the same! How do they know where to go everyday? If I was a shinigami I would get lost pretty much everyday for, at least, 2 months…' _The girl heard footsteps coming her way._ 'Got to hide myself.'_

Jumping to a nearby tree's branch, Shi hid herself in the shadows and suppressed her reiatsu. A few moments latter she saw a group of three shinigami running. One, that was quite effeminate and had feathers in one of his eyes, seemed to be the leader and was telling the other two where they had to go.

"You both are to guard our deposit, Zaraki-taichou orders. Most likely the ryoka will not go there so-"

'_Deposit huh?'_At hearing that, Shi smiled to herself and started to follow the men. '_Am I lucky or what?'_

When they got to the deposit, Shi wanted to bang her head against a very hard wall, repeatedly. '_What the hell? Why can not I get a break from the Murphy's law? But I guess it was stupid of me to follow them all the way to the 11__th__ division, after all master did tell me the deposit was close to the 1__st__ division.'_

The two shinigami were indeed guarding a deposit, but it was not a zanpakutous one. Oh no… '_A sake deposit? Who the hell would order their subordinates to guard sake under an invasion? I guess they are not taking us very seriously.'_

Sighing, the girl started to look around, trying to locate herself. '_Master said that the zanpakutous deposit was nearby the 1__st__ division by the last time he came.'_After spotting a wall with a big one written on it, Shinoka started running in its direction. It was quite far, since she was in the 11th division's area. Sometimes, she would hear others shinigami coming her way and hide until they were gone, but other than that everything was going smoothly. '_Maybe Murphy's law is not being soooo evil to me today as I had first though.'_

Then she got to the 3rd division; then Murphy's Law started to be 'evil' all over again.

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**Review please?**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hope you all enjoy chapter 2!**

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- With Gin-

Besides having to relocate some shinigamis because of the ryokas' invasion, everything was the same to the 3rd division's captain, meaning that he had pushed all of his paperwork to his lieutenant and was lazing off on one of the rooftops. That was until he saw a girl that was dressed as a shinigami and had a sword tied to her waist running through one of the corridors. '_Hehe… I didn't even have ta go look, my toy has come ta me!_''

Of course most people would think the girl was just another shinigami, but Gin was not most people. Since he was planning to betray the Soul Society with Aizen, Gin had memorized the faces of all the shinigamis from the Seireitei, and that girl's face he didn't know.

Grinning wider and with more malice than the usual, the 3rd division's captain jumped down.

-With Shinoka-

Right now, Shinoka was sitting on a tree branch, waiting for a group of shinigamis that stopped to discuss orders on a place nearby to go away. They were not directly below her, but she could see that, after they were done, some of the shinigamis would end up going in her direction, not to mention that she was a little tired from running around for the last three hours, so she decided to sit and wait. '_A little rest will not kill me… I hope.'_

Closing her eyes and sighing the girl laid her back on the tree trunk. "I hope master is alright…"

"If ya're alright, then yer master probably is too, neh?"

Opening her eyes immediately and jumping down, the girl started to run and look around. '_Thank God that the shinigamis from earlier are still talking. But who talked to me just now? Damn it! Now I will have to lose this person before even thinking about going to the deposit.'_

Shinoka started to run at random once again, turning every time she could to lose whoever was chasing her. After about one hour running, she decided to get inside an empty house and jump to another one through the window. She did that a few times, until she was inside a room away from the first one she entered. Once there, Shinoka sit down to catch her breath. She was sweating and breathing quickly because of the chase. '_I think that now I lost him… But I was well-hidden and my reiatsu was imperceptible. How did he spot me? He must have seen me before I hid myself.'_

"He probably saw me from somewhere high… perhaps a rooftop or a tree.'

"Bingo!"

At hearing his voice again, Shinoka got back to her feet, setting of again. But, before she even got to the door, a hand was holding her right arm and the other one was pressed over her mouth. The man from before was holding her from behind and laying his chin on top of her head. '_How did he get here? I couldn't even sense his reiatsu!'_She was raising her left arm to hit the man when he said:

"Bakudou no Ichi: sai"

And, with that said, her arms were crossed behind her back. '_Just you wait. Master trained me to get away from many bakudou spells, so getting away from the weakest one will be piece of cake!'_

"Now, if ya promise not ta scream or make any nois' I'll remove my hand from yer mouth, buuuuut, if ya do scream, I'm going ta cut yer tongue off. Do ya promis' not ta scream?"

Shinoka nodded. '_This guy is far too calm and his voice is far too happy for me to think he is bluffing… God, from all the shinigamis in here, the one to find me just had to be a cold-blooded one. Damn you Murphy's law!'_

"Good! I knew we would get along jus' fine!" Said the shinigami with a cheerful voice, releasing Shinoka and throwing her on the floor.

On the floor, Shinoka turned around, glaring daggers, to finally take a look at the man that had captured her. But, as soon as she saw him, her glare turned into a surprised expression. '_Oh damn. He is not just any shinigami… He is a captain, God damn it!'_The man was tall and had silver hair, but what really got her attention were his closed eyes and the huge smile on his face, the latter made a huge sweat drop appear on her the back of her head. '_I think his face will end up breaking in half… Stop it and concentrate! He most likely is the 3rd__division's captain, Ichimaru Gin. Master talked about him. He is cold-blooded, sadistic….and a genius. I am screwed. Simple as that.'_

The man turned around, what gave Shinoka the certainty that he was the 3rd division's captain, to get one box on the other side of the room, dragging it until it was right in front of Shinoka and sitting on it, he laid his right elbow on top of his leg and his right cheek on his hand. The grin never left his face.

"So… Do tell me little ryoka, what's yer name?"

Not breaking eye-contact, Shinoka answered: "Tenno Shinoka, sir."

"Oh, so polite! Now, why are ya here?"

"…" Bowing her head, Shinoka took a deep breath. '_Do I lie to him? No, he did not take me to the general yet, so I don't think that he will do it unless I give him a reason to, and that is what may happen if I make up a lie, not to mention that I hate lying… Tell the truth perhaps?'_She raised her head to look at him for a few seconds then bowed it again. '_No way. He may do something to master if he finds out he is here… Oh God… What to do? What to do?'_

Gin was staring at the girl in front of him, amused by her behavior. '_She's debating whether ta tell me the truth or ta lie ta me. What a funny girl… Being able ta rationalize everythin' in a situation lik' this one. Not ta mention her reiatsu, even with her concealin' mostly of it I can sense something is different. But what? '_

After making up her mind, Shinoka raised her head, making eye-contact with the grinning man once again. Grinning wider, even though it seemed impossible, he asked. "So… What are ya doing here?"

"Sorry, but I can not tell you that sir."

That made Gin drop his grin and frown, making a confused face, but keeping his eyes closed. '_That…I was not expecting.'_

"Ya….can't tell me? Why's that?"

"I will not lie to you, sir. And the truth is something I can not tell, because it may bring harm upon others."

"Ya do realize that I can do whatever I want with ya right?" Gin asked with the same confused expression on his face.

Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Shinoka answered: "Yes, sir."

"I could torture ya pretty bad. I'm really good at it."

"I do not doubt your capacity to bring pain upon others, sir."

"But ya still won't tell me why ya're here…"

"No, sir."

Raising himself from his place on the box, Gin unsheathed his sword and pressed its tip to the girl's throat, drawing a little blood from it. But she kept still.

"Ya didn't even flinch…"

"With all due respect sir, I can take whatever you do to me."

That made Gin grin once again. '_This girl is brave, I have ta give her that. Can't even say she's dumb ta say that, because she must have already thought about everything that I could do ta her…'_

"Oh really? And do tell me, why's that?"

To answer this question, Shinoka opened her eyes and stared at his closed ones, with a smile on her face. "Because I have already had the worst possible."

Gin's grin widened a little more and he sheathed his shinsou. He opened his mouth to say something but a noise coming from outside stopped him. The 3rd division's captain walked to the window and looked through it, seeing that some shinigami were starting to clean up the houses before the sun started to set. "What about we make a deal, eh?"

Dropping her head a bit to the side and looking quizzically to the man that was gazing out the window, Shinoka asked: "What kind of deal?"

The man turned his head to her with the widest grin so far on his face. "Let's discus' it durin' dinner, what do ya say?"

Shinoka stared at him for some time. '_To go with him will be quite dangerous, not to mention that master will get worried if I do not find a way to contact him before tomorrow. But if I say 'no' he may hand me over to the general or kill me… I guess it is my best shot. Not to mention that it seems that I have sparkled his interest, so, as long as I keep him amused, I will not have to worry about being killed. And what best way to amuse him than with a deal he proposed?'_

Smiling at the silver-haired male, Shinoka winked and said joking: "Alright, sir. You have got yourself a date for the night."


	4. Chapter 3

**Here's 'Lock' third chapter. Hope you all like it! ;)**

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- Inside Gin's office-

The sun was starting to set. Gin was sitting at his desk doing his paperwork (more like doodling on it) and Shi was sitting on a couch in front of him. The girl had been released from the bakudou spell and was observing the captain in front of her with a curious look on her face. '_The guy never loses the grin does him? Not to mention his eyes… How can he see anything like that? Not again! Stop thinking about the man's face and start thinking about the deal! Let's see… What could he want from me? He knows nothing about master and me, so he will most likely demand something that any person could give him… Sexual favors perhaps? I would rather get killed. But he does not seem to be that kind of person… A psychopath? Yes. A perverted? Not really… Well, that is reassuring. But it does not help me to figure out what he wants…'_

Sighing, the girl laid her back on the couch's support and stared at the ceiling. "So… Will not you get in trouble if they find out I am here, sir?"

The fox-like man continued what he was doing. "Why would they find out ya're here little ryoka?"

"Well… Anyone can come inside. And I am pretty sure I am not invisible, sir." The girl turned her gaze to the man. "Of course that they may think I am just another shinigami, but I am pretty sure that, if someone gets in here, this someone will be your lieutenant and he most likely knows you well, does he not?"

Gin's grin widened and he stopped doing his 'paperwork' to direct his gaze to the girl in front of him. "Yer point being?"

"Your lieutenant does not know me and, since the Seireitei is under invasion, he will most likely talk with other shinigami that there is an unknown girl inside his captain office and, I say this with all due respect sir, you do not seem to be the most trustworthy person around here. So… eventually, someone will come to check who I am and end up figuring everything out."

Chuckling, the silver-haired captain raised himself from his seat and walked until he was right in front of Shinoka, bending his torso down to level his face with the girl's. '_This girl sur' is a bright one! Not ta mention she doesn't seem ta be scared of me… Or she's hiding it pretty well. Maybe it'll be better if I tell Aizen about her… Hidin' a girl with this potential may upset him and I can't risk it. Jus' hope he decides to let her live for now. She's provin' herself ta be a very interesting person. I think I'll keep her around for a while; mayb' somethin' interestin' will happen.'_

Shinoka never had a problem with people being close to her, but the way Gin's eyes, even though closed, seemed to be examining her own orbs was a little unnerving. "Um… Sir? Is everything alright?"

Straightening his back, the man answered looking down at the girl. "Everythin' is jus' fine little ryoka. And ya're right; we better get ta somewhere no one finds ya."

The man walked out the office and Shinoka could hear him talking with someone. '_Most likely his lieutenant…'_

"Izuruuu! I'll be leavin' early today."

"W-WHAT? Ichimaru-taichou, there are still lots of paperwork to do, not to mention that we are under an invasion! We need you here to help with the preparations! For example: should we relocate some of our men to protect a specific area? And if they attack us? Ich-"

"Calm down Izuru, remember that the announcement said we didn't need to modify our routine? And I'm pretty su-"

Ignoring the rest of the conversation, Shi took her cell phone out and sent a message to Ryuu: "_Master, I am okay… I do not know if I will be able to get the zanpakutou today though. I will be contacting you again when I get inside the deposit."_After pressing the send button, Shi put her cell phone inside the hidden pocket where it was before.

"Bye, bye!"

"Ichimaru-taichou!"

Gin stormed into his office, quickly grabbing Shinoka and jumping out of the window with the surprised and confused girl under his arm. _'This guy sure is fast. I could not even see him grab me…'_

Looking up at Gin, Shinoka asked with a curious expression on her face. "Can I conclude that your lieutenant suffers a lot because of you, sir?"

"Hehehe…. Ya've got no idea!"

Shinoka couldn't help but laugh quietly at this. "I do not doubt your capacity to make your lieutenant suffer, sir. Now, if you do not mind me asking, where are we going to?"

"We're going ta a quiet restaurant from Rukongai. People ther' know me pretty well and wil' be happy ta assur' our privacy."

"I see. Bribes or threats, sir?"

Acting hurt, Gin talked to the girl with an indignant voice. "Ya think I'd do something as low as that, little ryoka? I can't believe ya think so lowly of me after I treated ya so nicely."

Shinoka just raised her eyebrows, keeping an amused smirk on her face. Seeing this, the silver-haired fox sighed, pretending to be disappointed, but soon recovered his trademark grin. "Bribes."

Both chuckled.

- Inside the restaurant-

Gin and Shi were sitting inside a private booth on the back of the restaurant. The outside and the inside part destined to the regular costumers of the restaurant were very simple but clean, giving the impression of a familiar place. But the private booth in which they were now was very luxurious. '_Being a captain sure has its benefits.'_

Shi was admiring the booth's decorations, but her expression was not one from awe; she was simply pleased by the place. Gin, on the other hand, was disappointed as he examined the girl in front of him. '_It seems she's already used ta the luxury… Too bad, I was hoping ta see her awe-struck.'_

There was a knock on the door and a smiling waitress came in. "Ichimaru-sama, it's a pleasure having you here! Are you both ready to order or would you prefer to wait a little?"

Before Gin was able to answer, Shinoka's stomach growled. Loud. '_That is nice. How lady-like of you Shi!'_

Blushing like mad and bowing her head to hide her face with her bangs, Shinoka murmured an apology. Gin chuckled, amused by the girl's embarrassment.

"I think we'll order already. I'm going ta hav' a pork ramen. What do ya want Shinoka-chan?"

The girl looked up to the waitress smiling, her embarrassment long forgotten. "Do you serve takoyaki here?"

"Of course miss. The dish comes with six dumplings and some pan-fried vegetables."

"Alright, I will want that one please."

Writing down the orders, the waitress asked: "What would you like to drink?"

Before Shinoka could even open her mouth to answer, Gin said: "Bring one bottle of sake. And take yer time with the dishes."

"Got it."

The sake bottle was brought in a few moments. After the waitress left the boot, Shinoka turned to Gin serious. "So… What kind of deal do you have in mind, sir?"

Grin widening, Gin answered the girl in font of him, clearly amused by the situation. "Right ta the point, neh? We're not havin' dinner yet, so wait a little bit, little ryoka."

Sighing, the girl closed her eyes. '_This man sure likes taking his time with things.'_Opening her eyes, Shi established eye-contact with the captain in front of her with a smile on her face.

"Back to 'little ryoka' sir? I thought that you were going at least to call me by my name. Even though I must say that I like Shi better than Shinoka."

Chuckling and extending his hand over the table, the silver-haired fox said: "Well, let's do it like this then: I call ya Shi-chan and ya drop the sir thing, it's startin' ta annoy me. Jus' call me Gin or Gin-san."

Shi shook the man's hand. "Alright."

After both returned their hands to their original places, an uncomfortable silence began. Shi bowed her head and crossed her arms in front of her. '_Now I guess we just wait… But this silence is killing me!'_She turned her eyes to steal a glance of the silver-haired male that continued grinning at her. '_I guess that a little small-talk will not hurt…'_

Shi relaxed her arms and raised her head, staring directly at Gin with an easy-going smile. "Gin-san, you do realize that I am a minor right?"

'_How funny! The girl wants ta talk. She doesn't realiz' that we're 'enemies'? Or she jus' doesn't care? Either way, it seems fun.'_Deciding to entertain his guest, Gin engaged in a conversation with the girl in front of him.

"I do. But since ya're my 'date' I thought that we could forget about thes' formalities neh?"

Shinoka chuckled at that. "I see. Well, do tell your 'date': how did you become a captain?"

"And why do ya want ta know that?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Shi said nonchalantly: "Just small-talk… I can ask something else if you do not feel comfortable answering me this. Like: why do you keep your eyes closed all the time? And can you really see things well with them like that?"

"Thes' are the most non-related questions possible, but okay. First, I can see jus' fine. But the reason I keep my eyes closed all the time is because'… eh, how am I gonna say it?" The fox-like male furrowed his brows and kept silent for a couple of moments. "Well, it's gonna sound really cliché, but I keep my eyes like that becaus' our eyes are the windows to our souls."

Shi nodded. "I understand."

Gin raised hies eyebrows at the girl. "Really?"

"Yes. This grin on your face is to prevent people from seeing what you are feeling; that much is obvious. But, even if you kept the grin, the most perceptive people are able to notice changes in your mood through your eyes, right? So, by keeping them closed, you do not let those people see the emotions you are feeling." Gin was getting surprised with the girl's logic. '_She's brighter than I first thought…'_

Then Shi's expression changed and, instead of a smile on her face, she had a puzzled look. "But why would you do that? Are you planning something?"

Now Gin's grin had vanished. '_This isn't good for ya Shi-chan, if ya go further I may have ta kill ya.'_

Noticing the change on the captain's face, Shi decided to play dumb and started laughing. "Hahaha! Got you!"

Gin recovered his grin with that, but it was not as big as usual. '_Was she really jokin'? Or she did realize something? I have ta be more careful around this one… She's almos' as bad as Aizen.'_

Shi kept a smile on her face and took a sip of sake, never breaking aye-contact with the fox-like man. '_This guy is planning something against someone… No, not someone. If it was just someone he would not need to keep his façade all the time. This man is going to take his chances against something much bigger, an institution most likely. Maybe the Seireitei gave him a secret mission or something like that… Well, not my problem. As long I do not stand in his way I am safe.'_

Gin decided to change their conversation's topic quickly. "Tell me Shi-chan; ya got here using the Senkaimon, neh? How was the passage through the Dangai?"

Confused, Shi put her cup down and looked quizzically at Gin. "Dangai? What is that? Why should I pass through it to get here?"

"Dangai is a dimension between the real world and the Soul Society; a really nasty plac' if ya ask me. Ta avoid passing through it when using the Senkaimon ta leave or enter the Soul Society, us shinigamis hav' ta take a Hell Butterfly with us. And, sinc' I don't see one with ya I thought that ya had passed through the Dangai… How were ya able not ta do it without a Hell Butterfly?"

"I do not know…" '_I will ask master about this latter.'_

Examining Shi's intrigued and confused face, Gin concluded that she really didn't know how she did it, so he changed the conversation's topic again. Both kept chatting; their conversation was the result of Shi asking random questions about the Seireitei to Gin and he answering the ones he judged harmless. _'Is this girl's writin' a book about Seireitei? Firat time I've seen someone as curious as her…' _

After some minutes of talking, there was a knock on the door and the waitress went in with the dishes. After everything was set and the woman gone, the captain's smile grew wider.

"Now, about our deal…"


	5. Chapter 4

**Here's chapter 4! =)**

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- With Ryuu-

Ryuu was doing his part. He was behaving like one of the shinigami that had to guard the zanpakutous' deposit, this way he could not only be nearby if Shi needed help with something but also make it easier for her to get in. The lower ranks Yume was working with were easy to fool; he just had to knock out and hide the unconscious body of one of the 1st division's novice shinigami that had been relocated and take his place, so now he was responding by the name Tarou. But when a shinigami of more importance appeared he had to make up an excuse to the shinigami he was 'working' with and hide himself.

Yume was walking towards the Daireishokairou with a irritated expression. '_What is taking her so long?... I shouldn't have let she wander around by herself! If we had stayed together everything would be over already. But it would've been easier for the Seireitei to indentify us…'_

After receiving Shi's message, Ryuu relaxed, but the fact that she was taking too long to get there was still unnerving. '_Something must be holding her back…'_

Sighing, Ryuu hid himself in a narrow alley. The 2nd division's lieutenant was walking his way.

- With Shi and Gin-

"If ya end up going ta Central 46, I want a report. Very simple neh?

Shi stared at the silver-haired male in front of her with a stunned expression. "A…report?"

Picking some soba noodles with his chopsticks Gin answered: "Yeah. A report." Then he ate them.

Shi started to eat her vegetables and dumplings; after all, her stomach was empty and demanding food. After a few bites, the girl looked back at the captain and asked, much to her stomach displeasure: "In exchange of what?"

"Hehehe… In exchange of not telling anyone about ya and letting ya go unharmed of cours'."

"About what do you want me to report?" Asked Shi, a little suspicious. _'No doubt this guy is plotting something.'_

'_She still is suspicious of me. That means she wasn't jokin' earlier… Mayb' it'll be better if I tak' care of her now and be done with it…'_He looked at her seriously, but it was so quick that Shi didn't even notice it. '_There's no need for me ta worry; I jus' need ta ask the report in a way she thinks it's jus' a joke. If she doesn't fall for that I can kill her in a blink of an eye, though I wish not ta do it, at least not right now.'_Serving Shi and himself a cup of sake, Gin answered, widening his grin.

"Ya're a bright kid so ya must've realized that I don't tak' things too seriously around here…" Shi couldn't help but laugh a little. "I've made fun of mos' people around here, but there's this Central 46… Do you know what it is?"

"I heard a little about it… They are the supreme judiciary organization around here right?"

"Exactly! I've been trying ta prank them since I've joined the Seireitei, but the mos' I could do was ta draw funny graffiti on the walls around the place. So, if ya end up being caught ya'll be taken ther'. I won't lie ta ya… If it comes ta it ya'll mos' likely be sentenced ta death, but befor' ya die ya hav' ta tell me if there's a way for me ta trick them in a more… personal level."

"In a more personal level? What kind of information exactly do you want?"

"Let's see... The wise men and judges's description, how it is in ther' and... I don't know... If ya find a way ta get inside without being noticed would be great, but I doubt ya'll." Shi narrowed her eyes slightly after his last request, amusing Gin. "That's about it... Pretty simple neh?"

Shi took a sip from her sake while staring at him with a thoughtful expression. '_That is a weird request… But what is normal about this man? Like I am one to talk… It will be better if I do not put much thought into this; he is obviously dangerous so I can not give him reasons to want me out of his way… Guess that helping him is the best way for me to continue the operation__safely. But he can hand me over just so I end up going to Central 46 and reporting to him… No. He said that he would not tell anyone about me and, so far, I have no reasons to doubt his word.'_

After putting her cup down, Shi extended her hand to the silver-haired shinigami in front of her and grinned at him. "Alright, I will trust you Gin-san. You have got yourself a deal."

Both shacked hands exchanging knowing looks and finished the dinner chatting about random topics.

- Back at Gin's office-

By the time Gin and Shi got back to the 3rd division's captain's office it was already dark outside and there were very few people working in the Seireitei. The captain turned his back to the girl and walked to one window, gazing outside. '_Gues' it's time ta send the girl on her merry way.'_

"Ya should be going, neh? Now it's dark there'll be les' shinigamis around , so ya better seize the opportunity."

Keeping her gaze on the man's back, Shi sighed. "Guess you are right… Thank you for the dinner Gin-san, I had a good time."

"Me too. Hop' we bump on each other again." The silver-haired captain turned to the girl standing in his office with a huge grin on his face and waved his right hand. "Bye, bye!"

Shi smiled and waved her left hand softly. "Bye." Then she was gone.

- With Shi -

Shi got to the 1st division pretty quickly; like Gin had said, there were very few shinigami walking around. '_I hope I get to meet him again… Even if he does not seem to be very trustworthy, I really enjoyed spending time with him. He would be a fun friend to hang out with.'_

Shi was walking around the 1st division, looking for the zanpakutous' deposit. Suddenly, from the inside of a house, someone's hand came through a window and pressed itself against her mouth while the other circled the girl's waist and pulled her inside. Scared, the teenager started struggling.

"Calm down Shi. It's just me."

After the girl relaxed, the man released her, looking down at her with a serious and concerned expression. "Took you long enough."

Shi looked up at the man, feeling bad for worrying him. "Sorry master… Something unexpected occurred and I was not able to get here sooner."

Sighing, Ryuu walked towards the door and laid his back on it, turning to the girl who was staring guilty at the floor with an amused and relieved smile on his face. "It's okay." That made Shi raise her head with a smile on her face.

Now serious, Ryuu started talking: "Now, the deposit is nearby and I'm acting as one of its guards. We divide ourselves in groups of three and the groups change positions periodically, so I want you to hide yourself nearby the deposit's entrance until my group is guarding it, got it?"

Shi nodded with a serious expression, concentrated on her master's words.

"Good. Let's go."

- In Gin's office -

"And then I sent her away."

The 3rd division's captain had just finished telling his encounter with Shi to the captains from the 5th and from the 9th divisions. Gin was laying his back on the wall besides a window, the blind one was sitting on the couch and the one wearing glasses was standing by the fox-like man's desk, examining the man's 'paperwork' with a interested expression. But it was obvious that the papers he was looking at weren't his interest's target. '_This girl…I've got to send her to the Central 46. She may have the capacity to find a way to invade it and save me the trouble.'_

Aizen raised his head, pinning the fox-like captain with his serious gaze. "Gin, if you meet the girl again you're not to lose her from your sight. If you realize she is about to leave the Seireitei you will hold her back, but don't let her realize what you're doing; I want her to trust you." The 5th division's captain started to walk towards the door. "Kaname and I will make sure that the Central 46 gets a hold of the girl."

"Hai, Aizen-sama." "Wil' do Aizen-taichou."

- With Ryuu-

Ryuu was running towards his two 'comrades'. One was very tall and muscular while the other had a medium built. After reaching them, Ryuu started scratching the back of his head with a sheepish smile on his face. "Sorry to make you wait guys."

The bigger of the two glared at him. "Fuck you Tarou! How long does it take for you to take a leak?"

The smaller one just closed his eyes and sighed. "There's no need to use such foul words."

"No one fucking asked you!"

Mentally kicking himself for ending up with those two shinigami, Ryuu asked: "So… Where to now?"

The more polite one started to walk towards their next destiny, the big one in his tow. "Now it's our turn to guard the deposit's entrance."

Ryuu's expression became serious. '_You better be ready Shi.'_

- With Shi-

Shi was sitting on a tree's branch and hiding herself in the shadows when she noticed her master's reiatsu coming closer. '_I thought it would take longer for master's group to come. Guess I got lucky.'_

The girl watched the group that was guarding the deposit's entrance say good-night to the one that had arrived and leave the place. Her master laid his back on one of the deposit's door while the other two took some steps forward. Ryuu gazed at her, at the smaller guy then at her again. Understanding what her master wanted, Shi nodded her head. As soon as she did that, Ryuu used shunpo to go to the big guy's side.

The big guy looked at him surprised. "What the fu-" His phrase was cut by Ryuu hitting the guy's neck with his zanpakutou and knocking him out.

The other shinigami turned to Ryuu shocked, already putting his hand on his zanpakutou's hilt. "Hikaru! What ar-" But he also could not finish his phrase, because Shi appeared behind him using a hakufuku kidou to knock him out.

Ryuu stared proudly at the girl. "You're very good with kidou."

Shi smiled up at her master. "Thank you."

Getting serious again, Ryuu hurried her inside. "Go quickly; I'll take care of these two."

Shi nodded her head and entered the zanpakutous' deposit, closing the door and sealing it with a kyoumon kidou.

The deposit was not as big as she had first thought, but it was full of katanas. '_So, after you graduate from the Shinigami Academy you receive one of these. I do not understand... Why is the zanpakutou I am looking for different from these? Got to ask master about that later… Oh! There is the door.'_

Shi stopped in front of double doors with the restrict kanji carved on them. The doors were of a normal size and were full of dust. '_It seems no one has come here for a long time…'_There was no door-handle. Instead of it, on the doors' center, was a strange lock. It was big and circular; it seemed to be very simple but rigid.

Shi started the ritual, drawing both symbols and sitting on the center of the one on the ground. She took some deep breaths and started to concentrate her reiatsu in her left hand, being careful not to lose control of it. '_That is it… You are doing good… 67%, 68%, 69% and 70%!'_Then the girl slammed her hand on the ground. The reiatsu was transported to the lock, blowing it off.

'_Five minutes starting now.'_

* * *

**Observations:**

**The hakufuku kidou is the one that Hinamori uses on episode 46 to knock out the shinigami that was guarding her cell and escape from it.**

**The kyoumon kidou is the one that Hitsugaya uses to seal Hinamori's room on the Soul Society arc.**


	6. Chapter 5

**This chapter 5 is the longest so far. From now on, I believe all of my chapters will be, at least, as long as this one. ;)**

**Hope you enjoy it!**

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- Yamamoto's Office-

The 1st division's captain was sitting at his desk. He had his elbows over the table, his hands' fingers crossed and his chin over them; a clearly troubled expression adorned his features. '_The ryokas should've been caught already. But we still know nothing about them or their reasons! Not even where in the Seireitei they are right now!'_In a moment of anger, the general's reiatsu had sky-rocket.

His lieutenant voice came from right outside the door. "Y-Yamamoto-soutaichou… Y-Your r-reiatsu sir…"

Sighing and taking deep breaths, the old captain regained control over his reiatsu. Taking this as his cue, the 1st division's lieutenant went inside his captain's office and kneeled. "Yamamoto-soutaichou, we have located the ryokas." That got the general's attention, making him open his eyes to stare anxiously at his lieutenant, waiting for him to continue.

The lieutenant took a deep breath and resumed talking. "Sir, it is certain that at least one of the ryokas invaded the zanpakutous deposit's restricted area."

'_What? So they were after of the forbidden zanpakutous!'_Fighting to control his anger, the Gotei 13 leader asked through gritted teeth to no one in particular: "How did they get in there? The entrance should've been guarded for, at least, 3 shinigami…"

"What should we do Yamamoto-soutaichou?"

Sighing, the captain-commander raised himself from his seat. "Send a team of ten unranked shinigami and two 5th seats to go check the deposit. I want Soi Fong hidden somewhere to observe what happens. Tell her to report to me immediately if she realizes that those twelve are not able to capture the ryokas by themselves."

"Hai, Yamamoto-soutaichou."

- With Soi Fong-

The 2nd division's captain had a clear vision of the zanpakutous deposit's entrance from her hiding place on a rooftop nearby it. After a couple of minutes she noticed the team getting close to its entrance. '_Slow weaklings.'_

She watched them trying to open the door only with physical strength, but it was not moving at all. '_It is sealed you idiots! You have to use kidou to open it!'_

As if hearing her thoughts, one of the 5th seats started to enchant a kidou spell. Then a red-haired male dressed as a shinigami jumped down from a rooftop and knocked out all the twelve shinigami that were there in less than one minute. '_That ryoka didn't even draw his sword.'_

The man turned his gaze to her direction and smirked. Recognizing the man, Soi Fong glared at him and turned around to report to the general with a vein pulsing on her forehead. '_I'm going to have your head Nishizono!'_

-With Shi-

The room she was in now was medium-sized and full of dust; in there were boxes of many different sizes and shapes neatly pilled. All of them were labeled and each had a zanpakutou inside. '_These are most likely the zanpakutous' names… Too bad master did not tell me the name from the one I'm looking for. It would've made things a lot easier…'_

Sighing, Shi started to check inside the boxes as fast as she could, looking for the long sword with angel's wings on the guard. '_I won't be able to check all of these boxes in five minutes! Oh God, let me find the sword quickly…'_

- In Yamamoto's office-

Soi Fong was kneeled and had her head bowed while she told Yamamoto what happened. "Yamamoto-soutaichou, the team was defeated by one of the ryokas… The ryoka that defeated them was Nishizono Yume."

The 1st division's captain had his hands behind his back and was looking out a window, so Soi Fong was not able to see his eyes widening in surprise at the mention of the man's name. "I see. I will deal with this ryoka personally. While I distract him, you are to get in the deposit, understood?"

At hearing this, Soi Fong raised her head with wide and indignant eyes. "Yamamoto-soutaichou, even though Nishizono is one of the invaders I'm pretty sure I'm more than capable of dealing with both of the ryoka! There's no need for you t-"

"Silence!" The captain-commander turned around, looking down at the woman. "These ryokas were able to invade Seireitei using the SENKAIMON, they were able to hide INSIDE THE SEIREITEI for more than 7 hours, one of them ALONE was able to get inside the deposit's restricted area while the other, a former SHINIGAMI none the less, defeated 12 of our shinigami BY HIMSELF! So don't tell me I don't need to handle this myself. They have challenged me and I intend to accept the challenge."

-In Aizen's private quarters-

Gin was walking in when he noticed Tousen already standing there. "So… What did ya call us for Aizen-taichou?"

The brunette was kneeled in front of a small table, writing something down. He didn't even stop writing to answer the silver-haired male. "There's something happening in the zanpakutous' deposit… Gin, go check it out while Kaname and I get things ready to send the girl to the Central 46."

Grin widening, Gin started to make his way towards the door. '_Aye, aye… It seems we're gonna bump on each other sonner then I expected neh, Shi-chan?'_

-With Ryuu-

'_2 minutes already… Maybe I should've said to her the zanpakutou's name… No. She has got to learn it on her own or else the sword's power won't work as efficiently.'_Sighing from his place in front of the zanpakutous deposit's entrance Yume turned his gaze to the sky and waited for the next shinigami to appear. Since he was seen by Soi Fong there was no point in hiding anymore.

Eyes widening, Yume jumped to his left, dodging a kidou spell just in time. '_This reiatsu is big… Fuck! A captain already? I didn't think one would come here so soon… But that girl that saw me was Soi Fong, so I should've expected. '_

Turning his gaze towards the person that attacked him, Yume felt his eyes widen a bit more and his jaw drop. '_Alright… There's no way I would be expecting the captain-commander himself to attack me.'_

"I didn't expect to see you again, let alone in these circumstances, former 7th division's captain, Nishizono Yume."

Drawing his zanpakutou, Yume smiled at the general. "Yeah… I'm sorry about that Yamamoto-soutaichou, I really am. But, if both you and Soi Fong over there don't get in my way, we could get together and drink sake while remembering the old times! What do you say?"

Soi Fong was shocked. She was using a kidou spell to hide herself, and, as the leader of the Onmitsu Kidou, that red-haired male shouldn't be able to detect her. Former captain or not. Sighing and fixing a glare towards Yume, Soi Fong released her kidou, becoming visible once again. Yamamoto turned his head to her. "Don't let it get to you, Soi Fong. You must remember him. This man was once a great captain, but after being sent to the real world because of a mission about 70 years ago and never returning from it, we thought he was dead. That was until now of course." Turning his head to the former captain and narrowing his eyes at him, the general asked: "What do you intend to accomplish Yume? Why do you want the forbidden zanpakutous?"

'_Gotta keep them talking and give Shi more time.'_Still smiling, Yume decided to try to enroll the old man in a conversation, always keeping an eye on the glaring female captain.

"Don't worry Yamamoto-soutaichou, I don't need all of the forbidden zanpakutous… I'll be taking just one of them."

"Tell me Yume, do you know why those zanpakutous are forbidden?"

"Yes."

Narrowing his eyes even further, the general opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by an extremely angry Son Fong shouting. "Then you have no honor! What right do you think you have t-"

"Soi Fong! Control yourself!" Came the command from the old captain.

Ashamed by her outburst, the 2nd division's captain bowed her head and muttered an apology, but fixed her eyes on the red-haired man in front of her when he started to speak again. She was shocked to see that he held a serious and offended expression, but hid it behind a glare. '_Never thought that this moron would be able to behave seriously or get offended with that.'_

Glaring at the Onmitsu Kidou leader, Yume said: "You know nothing about my reasons woman, so keep your mouth shut." Adopting a tired expression and relaxing a little his stance, the former captain sighed and returned his gaze to the captain-commander. "Sometimes, when a shinigami dies in battle, his or her zanpakutou doesn't return to normal, keeping its shikai form. No one knows yet why this happens; some say it is because the former owner's determination remained in the sword, keeping it activated, while others believe the zanpakutou is waiting for its master's return. Therefore, as a sign of respect, these zanpakutous are not destroyed and become forbidden."

The old captain positioned himself in his battle stance and started to raise his spiritual pressure. "Exactly. So you do know that there's a very special bound between the forbidden zanpakutous and their former masters and that trying to obtain these swords is an absurd lack of respect towards the deceased shinigami the wielded them."

Sensing the change in the captain-commander, Yume sighed closing his eyes. '_Guess that this is it. I will try to gain more time for you Shi, but I don't think I will be able to keep them out for very long.'_Opening his eyes, the former captain positioned himself for the fight, holding his zanpakutou in front of him at shoulder-level and pointing it at the general.

In a blink of an eye, their blades clashed several feet above.

-With Gin-

Sitting relaxed on a rooftop was the 3rd division's captain; he had his knees bend, his elbows over them and a grin on his face. The silver-haired fox was watching the fight between the general and the male ryoka. '_Yume-chan is being able ta keep his stanc' pretty well against Yama-jii… But they didn't even release their shikai yet…'_

After watching for a few moments, Gin gave up on seeing the two shinigami fighting seriously against each other and raised himself from his seat with a disappointed face. '_Gues' that nothin' interestin' is gonna happen between them…'_Gin then turned his gaze to Soi Fong, who was enchanting a kidou spell to break the seal of the deposit's entrance, and sat down again. '_Now… What are ya tryin' ta do there Soi Fong?'_

-The fight-

As if reading Gin's mind, Yume fired a Soukatsui at the female captain, interrupting her enchantment.

Yamamoto used the former captain's moment of distraction to fire a Shakkahou at him, hitting him with full-force and throwing him on the ground. "You should concentrate yourself in the fight Yume."

Using his sword as a support, Yume raised himself, smirking at the older man above him. "Guess you're right Yamamoto-soutaichou…" Rising his reiatsu, the red-haired male closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I was hoping not to use that… But if I want to keep you both out of there for a few more moments I have no choice. Lead the way, Himichi!"

Yume's simple katana then turned into two Fuuma Shuriken, one in each hand. Bending his torso and knees, he smirked at Soi Fong. "I don't believe you've ever seen my zanpakutou in its shikai form before, Soi Fong. What do you think of it?"

Glaring daggers at the red-haired male, the 2nd division's captain started talking. "I may not have seen it before, but I heard enough about it. When in its shikai form, Himichi is a simple yet extremely powerful zanpakutou, if wielded correctly."

"So… How well do you think I wield my Himichi?" '_Yeah… Keep talking with me and forget about the seal Soi Fong...'_

"You were able to achieve its bankai form in less than 13 years… I know you wield your zanpakutou perfectly."

Before Yume had a chance to open his mouth, the captain-commander above him spoke with a severe voice. "No more talking Yume."

Sighing, the red-haired male hurled both of his shuriken at Yamamoto's direction, but, in the middle of the way, one of them directed itself to Soi Fong. The 2nd division's captain was able to jump out of the weapon's way in time, but it came back to her direction with full-force. Eyes wide in surprise, Soi Fong dodged once again, but the shuriken kept coming back to her. '_That's impossible! Unless…'_Turning her gaze to the former captain, she saw him fighting Yamamoto with his other Fuuma Shuriken, using it as some sort of dagger. By watching them, Soi Fong opened her guard enough to be hit by the other shuriken, though she was able to get out of the way quickly, receiving just a small cut on her left shoulder. As if satisfied with its work, the Fuuma Shuriken returned to its master, who was still fighting the general.

Getting a grip of his other weapon without even turning his gaze to it, Yume leaped back to dodge a blow coming from the 1st division's captain. '_He's not taking me seriously yet. He was just blocking my blows until now… Are you finally going to release your shikai Yamamoto-soutaichou? Gods I hope not, if he does I'm as good as dead.'_

The Gotei 13 leader sheathed his sword, earning a surprised and confused look from both Yume and Soi Fong. "I see… You're not fighting me; you're just trying to gain time for your friend to find the zanpakutou."

"What makes you say that Yamamoto-soutaichou?"

Narrowing his eyes at the younger male, Yamamoto continued talking. "Don't insult my intelligence. I'm old but not stupid. The only reason you're using your shikai is that it is the only way for you to distract both of us. You're even controlling yourself not to cause much damage or else you wouldn't have called your weapon back after giving just a small cut to Soi Fong."

Eyes widening once again, Soi Fong turned her gaze to the red-haired male. '_I was right… He is controlling his Fuuma Shuriken. But why did he stop it from hurting me? I'm his enemy! He should've been trying to eliminate me as fast as possible!'_

The captain-commander sighed, closing his eyes. "Why, Yume? Why are you stealing one of the forbidden zanpakutou from us when it is obvious that you don't wish to bring harm upon the Seireitei?"

Expression serious, Yume turned his gaze down, getting immersed in his own thoughts. "It is to help someone I care about to keep her sanity."

Feeling two reiatsus appear, one by his right shoulder and other by his left, Yume jumped as high as he could to get away from the new shinigamis. '_Those reiatsus…'_But both of the shinigamis that had appeared caught up with him.

"That seems to be a very noble reason, but we can't let you continue disturbing the justice."

"Sorry about that Yume-san."

Conscious that he would not be able to keep a fight against four captains, the red-haired male let Aizen and Kaname get a hold of his arms and take him down to the ground, raising their blades at Yume's throat.

Staring up at Aizen with a hopeful look, Yume whined a little. "Come on! Is it really necessary to put your blades at my throat?"

The 5th division's captain gave the former captain an apologetic look. "Sorry Yume-san, but you know the drill."

Sighing, the former captain bowed his head, staring at the ground through half-closed eyes. '_Now it's on you Shi.'_

-With Shi-

Shi was kneeled on the ground with many boxes scattered around her. She had already opened most of the boxes, but still had not found the sword she was looking for. '_God damn it! My five minutes must have ended already. Master, you are the one holding the shinigamis back right? I am troubling you again… Sorry about that… I-I can not do anything right for you… You always have to help me…'_Getting more frustrated by the moment the girl bowed her head. Tears started to build up in her eyes when she felt her seal begin to weaken. '_I just wanted to do one thing right for you master… Just one! One thing, to thank you for everything you've done for me and him… Now they are coming in and I was not even able to find the sword.'_Tears were already falling from the girl's eyes; then she felt a pulse coming from one of the boxes.

Raising her head, Shi directed her gaze to the direction from which the pulse had come from, feeling another one. '_What was that? Could it be?'_Scurrying to her feet, the teenager moved quickly to a pile of 7 boxes. She put the 2 first ones carefully on the ground, but stopped at the third. '_These pulses are coming from here.'_

Not even remembering to check the label, Shi opened the box and her eyes widened. There was the long sword her master wanted her to find. '_I-I did it.'_

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**Hey everyone, I'd like to point out that this is my very first fight scene and that I'm not really good at writing those, so any tips you have to give me will be more than appreciated. ;)**


	7. Chapter 6

**Hope you all enjoy chapter 6! =)**

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-With Shi-

Eyes wide, Shi put her left hand beneath the long sword's hilt and the other beneath the blade's mid-section, picking it up. '_It is beautiful…'_

'_**Why… Thank you very much.'**_

Startled, Shi dropped the zanpakutou back into its box. '_D-Did it just speak with me?'_

'_**Yes, I did. And I understand that this may be a little shocking, but did you really have to drop me?'**_

Quickly picking up the sword, Shi looked at it with an embarrassed blush adorning her cheeks. "Sorry…"

'_**It's alright. But I don't think this occasion is the most appropriate for us to talk. You should be getting out of here now, right?'**_

Right on cue, the seal of the zanpakutous deposit's entrance was broken. Tying the sword on her back quickly, Shi ran back to the deposit's first room, where the regular zanpakutous were. "Now, I have got to find master and get out of here…"

"You're not going anywhere ryoka."

Eyes full of determination, Shi raised her gaze to the entrance, where the voice had come from. Standing there were five people. Taking the lead was the captain-commander's imposing figure and, right behind him, was Soi Fong, who was glaring daggers at the teenage girl. '_Guess she does not like me much.'_Noticing the three people who were more on the back, Shi's eyes widened in despair. There was her master, but he was being held by two men who had their blades at the red-haired man's throat.

"MASTER! What are you doing to him? Let him go!"

Slamming his staff on the ground and narrowing his eyes, the 1st division's captain started to speak with a powerful voice. "Silence! You have no right to speak!" Shi flinched at the old man's tone. "Now, you will return the zanpakutou to its box and come with us."

Alternating her gaze between Yume and Yamamoto with a troubled expression, Shi started to think what to do. '_I do not want to give them the zanpakutou back and disappoint master. But they have him at their mercy right now and if I refuse to do as they say I am pretty sure they will kill him…'_She fixed her gaze on the red-haired male._'I can not risk master's life; I would never be able to live with myself if he got hurt.'_

As if reading her mind, Yume adopted an angry expression. "Don't you dare give up now! This is what I've trained you for in these last seven months! If you return the zanpakutou now, everything we've been through until now means nothing! All the time and effort I put in you, all the promises you made, everything! Everything will go to waste!" Voice low Yume turned his gaze to the floor with glazed eyes. "And you may end up losing it…"

Yume's last phrase was not meant to be heard by anyone, but the blind captain besides him had his ears trained to pick up the lowest sounds, so he understood every word.

Shi stared shocked at her master. _**'He's right you know… You forget that he is the reason you're here in the first place. He is the one that wishes you to wield me more than anything, maybe even more than his life.'**_

Shi bowed her head, hiding most of her face with her bangs. '_You are right… I can not… No. I will not let him down.'_Raising her head with a decided expression, Shi laid her right hand on the sword's hilt. '_Would you help me to fight for my master, eh…Sorry, I forget to check your name on the box earlier…'_

'_**My name is - . And yes, I will help you fight.'**_

Shi furrowed her eyebrows. '_Sorry, I was not able to understand your name… Say it again please?'_

'_**I see… Well, guess it's not time yet…'**_

Narrowing his eyes at the girl in front of him, the captain-commander started talking. "Don't even think about drawing that sword. If you do it, I'll have you and Yume killed."

Examining the girl in front of him and considering Yamamoto's words, Aizen decided it was time for him to join in the conversation. "With all due respect Yamamoto-taichou, I think you're taking this decision too harshly."

Shocked with the 5th division's captain words, everyone in the room, except Kaname, turned their wide eyes at him, who, in turn, directed his gaze to the Gotei 13's leader. "Yamamoto-soutaichou, we all know Yume-san pretty well to know that he would never do something senseless or with ill-intent; so I think it's safe to assume that he had a good reason to take that forbidden zanpakutou from us. And, while I agree that this shows an enormous lack of respect towards the deceased shinigami the wielded it, I have also noticed that this zanpakutou seems to have accepted the girl as its new master."

Narrowing her eyes, Soi Fong asked the brown-haired captain with a demanding voice, obviously unhappy with the fact that he had second-guessed the general's statement. "What makes you say that Aizen?"

Aizen looked at Soi Fong with a condescend smile. "Have you not realized it yet Soi Fong? I thought that, as the Onmitsu Kidou leader, you'd be the first one to notice… But I guess not." That made the 2nd division's captain clench her jaw and narrow her eyes even further. "This girl's reiatsu is starting to modify itself. When I came in the girl was concealing her reiatsu, but I was still able to realize that it was… different, a little morbid if you ask me. But, it started to change gradually, acquiring more regular characteristics, and this process' speed rose when she touched the sword's hilt." Turning his inquiring gaze towards Shi, Aizen asked with a kind and reassuring voice. "Tell me girl, do you know this sword's name?"

Establishing eye-contact with the 5th division's captain, Shi answered respectfully. "No sir, when I asked it for its name I was not able to understand it, so it said that it was not time yet, though I am not sure what this means."

Shi's words made her get surprised looks from everyone in the room, except Aizen and Yume; the first seemed satisfied with her answer while the second was simply happy with the fact that the zanpakutou had already accepted her.

'_I thought it was normal for shinigami to talk with their zanpakutou…'_

'_**It is… But it normally takes longer than that. Not to mention that you're not a shinigami and I'm not a regular zanpakutou.'**_

Yamamoto stared at the girl in front of him then at the 5th division's captain. "What do you suggest, Aizen?"

Waiting for that question, the 5th division's captain sheathed his sword and started walking closer to the captain-commander, leaving Kaname alone to hold Yume. "I think we should test her. Let her fight someone and, if we see that the sword has accepted the girl as its master we take her to the Central 46 and let them decide what to do with her."

Staring contemplatively at the glasses-wearing captain that was now standing besides him, the old captain asked. "And if we come to the conclusion that the sword didn't accept the girl as its new master?"

Bowing his head a little and acquiring a sad look in his eyes, pretending to dread the mentioned outcome, Aizen answered. "Then we kill her on the spot."

Eyes wide in anger, Yume charged towards Aizen but was held back by Tousen. "You bastard! No way in hell you're killing her if you think that she wasn't accepted by the zanpakutou." Then he turned his gaze to Shi. "Forget it Shi! I'm not allowing you to take that risk, you hear me?"

Smiling at her master, Shi spoke with an easy-going voice. "It will be alright, master. Remember you were the one who told me not to give up on this?"

"Idiot! That was when your live wasn't in danger! Don't you dare accept this challenge!"

"Sorry master…" Determined expression back on her face, Shi turned to both captains that were in front of the group. "Who am I going to fight with?"

Aizen had to hold back the victorious smile that was threatening to stretch itself across his face. '_All the pieces are falling into place. I knew she never would turn down a chance to live up to Yume's expectations if it didn't involve risking his life. If the sword accepts her as its master she'll be send to Central 46 and report to Gin, what may make it easier for me to get in there. But, if she gets rejected, she will be of no use to me and quickly disposed of. Things couldn't have gone better.'_

Before Aizen or Yamamoto hade a chance to answer Shi's question, a cheerful voice came from the entrance. "Ya'll be fighting me little ryoka! If that's okay with Yamamoto-soutaichou, of cours'."

All eyes turned to the fox-like man that was walking in the deposit. Yamamoto, Soi Fong and Shi were surprised with the 3rd division's captain appearance, Aizen and Tousen were curious towards his reasons and Yume was simply terrified with the idea of Shi fighting him. '_She would be annihilated…'_

Widening his grin, Gin stared directly at the teenager that had her wide eyes glued on him. "Don't look at me lik' that little ryoka! I promis' I'll tak' it easy with ya."

Pouting at Gin, Shi opened her mouth to complain about him calling her 'little ryoka', but closed it again quickly when the silver-haired captain put his left index finger over his stretched lips in a shushing manner. That action was so subtle that Aizen was the only one in the room, besides Shi, that noticed it. '_Right! They can not know that Gin and I have already met each other and if he called me by Shi-chan that would be pretty obvious.'_Then she slightly bowed her head, looking down contemplatively. '_He wants to fight me… He is pretty dangerous, but he seems to be better than the captain-commander or the female captain…'_

The 1st division's captain narrowed his eyes at the grinning male. "And why do you wish to fight the girl Ichimaru?"

Yume glared indignantly at Yamamoto. "WHAT? You can't seriously be considering this Yamamoto-soutaichou! Ichimaru is way above her level when it comes to fighting!"

Gin crossed his arms and turned to Yume pouting. "Don't be lik' that Yume-chan. I told yer little friend that I would tak' it easy with her and I'll; I don't want ta kill her, I jus' want ta hav' some fun…" Grin back on his face, the 3rd division's captain's gaze switched to Yamamoto. "So… What do ya say Yamamoto-soutaichou?"

Sighing, Yamamoto closed his eyes. "I see no problems in this arrangement. Does anyone here, besides Yume, have something against it?" Silence. "Then it's settled. Kaname, Aizen; you may release Yume." Now with his arms free, Yume glared at the old captain, who was staring right back at him. "Yume, take the girl to the 3rd division's training grounds in one hour. If you are not there, we'll understand that you've betrayed the Seireitei and you both will be hunted down and killed. Did I make myself clear?" Yume said nothing, what angered the captain-commander. "Did. I. Make. Myself. Clear?"

"Yes… Old man."

Needless to say, Yume was sent flying to the 3rd division's training grounds.

Shi sighed. '_That was uncalled for master…'_

Gin turned to the human girl grinning. "What's yer name little ryoka?"

Shi snorted, but smiled politely nonetheless. "It is Tenno Shinoka, sir."

"Shi-chan it is then." Shi chuckled softly. "Come with me, I'll show ya the way ta my division sinc' Yume-chan couldn't wait for ya to get ther'."

-With Shi and Yume-

Yume and Shi were in the 3rd division's area, sitting on a rooftop and staring at the training grounds where the fight was going to take place. Yume was frowning and holding an ice-pack on his forehead, but he still managed to look worried. Shi, on the other hand, had an analytical look on her face, obviously thinking up strategies to the fight; the girl had her arms crossed and brows furrowed.

Shi was the first to speak, turning to her master with a serious voice. "Master, I have met Gin before and I do not believe he intends to kill me, but I know he will give me a hard time so any info that you have to give me about him will be more than welcome."

Yume smiled, but his eyes and voice showed that he was not happy with what was happening. At all. "So he was the reason you took so long to get to the deposit eh? Well, it's not important to us now… You're right though, he will give you a very hard time." Laying on his back, Yume stared at the stars. "Ichimaru Gin is a genius. He graduated from the Academy in just one year, and got a place in the 5th division, quickly reaching the lieutenant post. In a few years Gin obtained the title of 3rd division's captain. His zanpakutou is called Shinsou; I've never seen its bankai form, but I'm sure he won't need to use it on you. In its shikai form, Shinsou's blade is capable of extending itself, being able to reach a length of 100 meters."

Shi nodded her head in understanding, brows still furrowed. "I see. So my best shot is a close-range combat. But…"

The brown-haired girl got silent and turned her eyes to the training grounds, examining them one more time: just a wide, open space. '_Damn! No places for me to hide, although it will be pretty easy to use kidou there…But the point of all of this is proving that I was accepted by the zanpakutou, so it will be better if I fight with the sword instead of using kidou.'_

Turning his eyes to the girl, Yume sighed and closed his eyes, allowing a serene smile to stretch across his face. '_She'll be fine…'_

-With Gin and Aizen-

Despite his neutral face, Aizen was angry… No. He was furious, and Gin could notice it. '_Hehe… Mayb' I should've kept my mouth shut eh?'_

They were inside Gin's office. Gin was sitting on the couch while the brunette was sitting at the fox-like captain's desk, giving him a blank look. But Gin could see much more than that. Not from his face though, the 5th division's captain was far too skilled in hiding his true intents. It was his spiritual pressure that gave him away; though very little, it was raised above the usual and for Gin, who had coexisted with the glass-wearing captain for more than a century, that spoke volumes.

Voice cold as ice, Aizen started talking. "Gin, I asked you to keep an eye on the girl and to make her trust you; not to fight her." Gin lost his trademark grin.

"Ai-"

"Quiet. You do realize that she may connect the dots now. If she gets sent to the Central 46, she may think that you fought her on purpose and lose part of the little trust she may have on you. But, if I had been the one chosen to fight her, not only her trust on you would be intact, but she also would be under Kyouka Suigetsu's illusion in case we needed to control her."

Sighing, Gin raised himself from the couch, walking to a window so he could see the training grounds. "Aizen-taichou, the girl may be very bright, but she is jus' as gullible. She doesn't know I know she'll be send ta Central 46 and, while she may be very quick ta pick up on things, she doesn't seem the typ' ta second-gues' people, so we have nothin' ta worry about. And, about Kyouka Suigetsu, if it posses necessary, ya can put her under its illusion very easily, all ya've got ta do is ask her if she'd lik' ta see yer zanpakutou's shikai. She gets quite curious when it comes to…" Gin remembered their talk earlier that evening and how Shi seemed to be interested in everything he said, no matter the topic. "Well, pretty much everythin'."

Considering the silver-haired captain's words, the 5th division's captain relaxed. "I guess you're right Gin. There's no reason for me to worry." Raising himself from his place at the 3rd division's captain's desk, Aizen made his way towards the door, stopping under it. "But don't you ever do things without my approval first again. Do you understand me, Gin?"

In a blink of an eye, the spiritual pressure over Gin sky-rocket, causing the silver-haired man to drop on his knees; but he kept his back erect, not as a sign of resistance though, just a proof of power. "Yes, Aizen-taichou."

"Good. Now go, it's almost time."

-With Shi-

Standing on the middle of the 3rd divison's training grounds; Shi was waiting for Gin to arrive. '_Five minutes left.'_There were Yume, Yamamoto, Soi Fong, Tousen, and Aizen. '_Damn. I did not expect all of them to watch the fight…'_

"Ahh… My date's already waitin' for me. I'm flattered."

Laughing quietly at the man's clear reference to their dinner, Shi turned and gave an amused smile to the silver-haired captain that appeared a few feet behind her. "Do not be. Not because of this."

Gin's grin widened and he laid his hand on his zanpakutou's hilt. "Ready, little ryoka?"

Serious expression on her face, Shi established eye-contact with Gin and grabbed 'her' zanpakutou's hilt. '_So… Let's do it?'__**'Let's.'**_

"Ready."


	8. Chapter 7

**Here's chapter 7. Now, the fight between Shi and Gin takes place... As I've said before, fights aren't really my forte, so review please! ;)**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

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-The fight-

The words had barely left Shi's lips, and Gin and her were already clashing their blades. Gin was the one giving most of the blows while Shi blocked them, trying to learn as much she could about his fighting style. '_I can not use this as basis to determine his strength and speed, since he is obviously taking easy with me as he had said… But his way of fighting should not vary much: he tries to pierce his adversary instead of cutting him/her horizontally, vertically or diagonally as is usually done… As I had thought, because of his shikai he is used to wield his zanpakutou as a spear.'_

Gin noticed that his adversary, though keeping up with the pace he had determined, was not 100% concentrated in the present fight and decided to fix that. "If it's too easy for ya I can speed things up a little bit…" With that said, the 3rd division's captain gave Shi a very fast blow on the shoulder, making sure not to hit her very hard. Not being able to even see it coming, the girl had her left shoulder pierced and fell to the ground.

Eyes wide in shock, Shi stared up at the fox-like captain and jumped back to dodge another blow. Looking at the grinning man in front of her with more attention, Shi passed the sword to her left hand and used the right one to touch her bleeding shoulder and check the injury. '_It is just a small cut. It will not even effect my movements.'_Switching the sword to her right hand again, Shi narrowed her eyes at the silver-haired captain, making his grin widen a little more. '_Damn! I can not even think up strategies without him getting in the way.'_

'_**So forget strategies, use what you already know about him and let the rest to your instincts.'**_

'_I do not believe my fighting instincts are very good though…'_

'_**But mine are and, as I said before, I will help you. So stop thinking and fight him with everything you've got.'**_

Shi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. '_Alright then.'_

Gin watched the girl narrow her eyes at him. '_Hehehe… Didn't expect me ta hurt ya so soon? Wanted me ta give ya time ta think? Sorry, but I won't hav' any of that. I want ya ta forget yer strategies and fight me using yer instincts. That's the only way for ya ta activate the zanpakutou and go ta Central 46.'_

As Shi closed her eyes, Gin got in his fighting stance. After she reopened her orbs and stared determinately into his own closed ones, he asked. "So, are ya ready now? Be sur' that I won't wait for ya ta think up strategies ta fight me."

Holding the zanpakutou in front of her with both hands, Shi answered with a firm voice, never breaking eye-contact. "I am ready to fight you relying in my instincts… Whatever this means."

"Good."

Gin charged at her, trying to pierce her left shoulder once again. Shi was not able to see him moving, but she felt it, dodging the blow and swinging 'her' zanpakutou to cut his torso horizontally. The silver-haired captain's grin widened and he stepped back to avoid the blow, but she kept going, trying to cut him from many different angles. Opposite to Gin, Shi didn't have a fighting style with a sword, though she had learned the basics from Yume, so she attacked him at random. She was going at the silver-haired male by instinct, hers and the zanpakutous. Her instincts were giving her the strength to raise the blade while the zanpakutous seemed to help her aim the blows.

-With Yume and the others captains-

Yume was totally immersed into the fight, observing intently each and every move that Shi and Gin made. When the fox-like male had cut the girl, it took Aizen and Tousen to keep him from stopping the fight. Of course that Yamamoto saying, "If you stop the fight because of that I will fight the girl myself, and believe me when I say that I will not take it easy with her." helped to keep the redhead in place. But now the tables had turned in the fight; Shi was the one attacking non-stop while Gin was blocking and dodging the blows. '_She never put this much effort in our sword training sessions… But I guess this is good; the sword is leading her.'_

This change in the battle's course wasn't overlooked by any of the captains that were there watching the fight. Soi Fong was not surprised by the girl's new fighting skills. '_Beginner's luck.'_

Yamamoto had a neutral expression, but seemed to be finally considering the hypothesis that the zanpakutou might accept the girl as its new master. '_But still is too early to assume things.'_

Tousen was not being affected by the fight. _'If the girl gets send Central 46, very well. If not, Aizen-sama will find his way there eventually.'_

Aizen had an interested and relaxed smile on his face. '_I'm counting on you girl.'_

-The fight-

"It seems ya got some hidden talents with the sword eh?" Said Gin, while blocking Shi's blade.

Shi said nothing, completely focused in what she was doing. Not being heard by the girl that was frantically attacking him made a sweat drop appear behind the 3rd division's captain's head. '_I told her to focus alright. But she could at least hear what I say… Gues' a punishment is in order, hehehe…'_Gin's grin turned malicious and he dodged a blow that was coming from above, taking a hold of the girl's right wrist with his free hand.

Shi's eyes went wide in alert and she tried to release her wrist, but Gin's grip didn't give away. Hearing the silver-haired captain say something, Shi turned her shocked gaze to him and got scared after seeing the grin on the man's face. '_That is not the usual I-will-screw-you-over grin_… _That's more like an_ _I-will-have-my-fun-with-you-and-then-kill-you-veeeeeery-slowly grin.'_

Shi gulped. "Sorry, did you say something?"

Grin getting scarier, Gin answered. "Yes, and ya should not ignor' me."

"I was not ignoring you. I got too focused in the fight, as you said I should, and did not listen… Sorry." Smiling sheepishly, Shi tried to pull her hand out of Gin's grip once more, but it didn't work.

"I see… Well I've got another thing ta say and ya should pay close attention ta it." She kept her alert eyes on Gin's face and started to fell cold sweat streaking down the back of her head, she tried to swallow but her throat was suddenly dry. "Hadou 11: Tsuzuri Raiden."

A big electric current started flowing through Shi's body, making her fall down to her knees screaming in pain. Gin held her wrist for a few seconds before letting go and jumping several feet back, ending the electric flow. Shi kept kneeled on the floor, but she had stopped screaming and was staring at the ground with wide and glazed eyes. _'T-That was dangerous, if he had hold onto my wrist a little more I could have had my nervous system damaged… It seems he wants to fight a little harder.'_

-With Yume and the others captains-

Eyes wide in anger and spiritual pressure rising, Yume watched Shi get electrocuted. Tousen and Aizen were having a little trouble to hold back the former captain. "LET GO OF ME! I'M GONNA KILL THAT SON OF A BITCH! THERE WAS NO NEED FOR HIM TO DO THAT!"

The Gotei 13 leader turned to the angry former captain with narrowed eyes. "Remember your place here, Yume. You were the one who invaded the Seireitei and stole one of ours zanpakutou so you have no room to complain." The redhead dropped his head in defeat and lowered his spiritual pressure mumbling an apology.

The captain-commander sighe tiredly. "I'll talk with Ichimaru."

-The fight-

Legs still shaking, Shi started rising from the ground, using 'her' zanpakutou as a support. Hearing footsteps, the teenager raised her gaze to her left, seeing the captain-commander approach Gin. The fox-like man still had his sadistic grin in place while talking to Yamamoto.

"Yamamoto-soutaichou! Somethin' happened?"

Glaring at the silver-haired male, Yamamoto answered acidly. "You know exactly what happened, Gin. Using that hadou was too much; we want to test the girl not to kill her." Shi's eyes widened slightly, she was surprised and honored by the fact that the Gotei 13 leader had the trouble to assure her well-being. "Yume is worried enough without you hurting the girl, so don't give him motive to annoy me more than he already is." Shi couldn't help but fall face-first on the ground. _'How did I not see this one coming?'_

"Understood, Yamamoto-soutaichou. I promis' ya I'll behav' better."

With just a nod of his head, Yamamoto returned to his place with Yume and the other captains.

Getting on her feet, Shi glared at Gin, who just grinned that creepy grin of his at her in return. Eye twitching, Shi pointed 'her' blade at the 3rd division's captain. "Stop that!"

Dropping his head a little to the side, Gin widened his malicious grin. "Stop what?"

Lowering the sword and her voice, Shi acquired a serious expression. "That grin of yours. It is starting to scare me. I have got no problems with your ever-lasting usual grin, but this one… I do not like it. It rem-." Shi's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her left hand.

"It what?"

Looking down with glazed eyes, Shi just shook her head. "Nothing." Re-establishing eye-contact with the silver-haired male, Shi smiled at him. "Sorry, I got carried away. Let's resume our fight, shall we?"

Shrugging, Gin nodded his head, getting in his fighting stance and returning his usual grin to his face. '_Don't ya think that I'll jus' forget it… Ya'll hav' plenty of time ta tell me about it latter.'_

'_**You sure you're okay? Your legs are still shaking a little.'**_

'_I will be fine. Thank you for your concern though.'_

-With Yume and the others captains-

Yume was watching the fight more apprehensively after Gin used the Tsuzuri Raiden. '_If he does something like that again, I swear to God I'll skin him alive.'_

The red-haired male was so absorbed into the fight before him that he was the only one in the group that didn't feel four different reiatsus coming their way. Noticing that, Aizen touched his shoulder and pointed to the direction the reiatsus were coming from. '_Great! Now I'll have to hear Yamamoto-soutaichou complain about how my stupid outburst brought unwanted attention and blah, blah, blah…'_

Turning his head to the pointed direction, Yume's angry eyes went wide in surprise. Coming his way were the captains and lieutenants from the 11th and 12th divisions.

Yamamoto was the first one to speak. "Zaraki, Kurotsuchi. What are you doing here?"

Kurotsuchi was the first one to answer with an enthusiastic voice. "You see Yamamoto-soutaichou, I noticed a surge of an unfamiliar and big reiatsu coming from here, so Nemu and I came to check if we had intruders that should be taken care of."

The captain-commander narrowed his eyes at the scientist-captain. "Don't lie to me Kurotsuchi. You were trying to find more lab rats for your research." Kurotsuchi clenched his jaw but said no more. "And you Zaraki?"

Zaraki was watching Gin and Shi's fight, so Yachiru decided to answer Yamamoto's question. "When Ken-chan felt that big reiatsu he got excited, so we came here looking for the reiatsu's owner so that Ken-chan could fight him!"

Without turning his gaze from the fight, Zaraki asked. "That reiatsu from earlier is that girl's? She doesn't seem to be very strong… She's barely keeping up with Gin and he's taking her pretty lightly…"

Deciding to make himself known, Yume took one step forward and smirked at Zaraki. "She is pretty strong; after all I was the one that trained her. But that wasn't her reiatsu, it was mine."

Recognizing Yume's voice, Zaraki's eyes went wide and he turned his head to the former captain. Yachiru had already jumped on the redhead's arms screaming. "YAY! Yu-Yu is back!"

A huge and sadistic smile stretched across the 11th division's captain. "I can't believe my eyes! What are you doing here Yume?" The battle-loving captain laid his hand on his zanpakutou's hilt. "Are you here to fight? If not, you are now."

Yamamoto and Soi Fong rolled their eyes and returned their attention to the fight that was happening. Aizen and Tousen also went back to watching the battle, not rolling their eyes though. Kurotsuchi made a disgusted expression, murmuring how the 11th division's captain was a brainless beast, and Nemu just stood there by his side.

With Yachiru on his shoulders, Yume raised his hands in a surrender gesture and smiled sheepishly at Zaraki. "Come on Zaraki, I don't want to fight you. Ever." Zaraki started to draw his blade. "But, if I have to, we'll fight in a more appropriate occasion. Not now."

"Very well." Letting go of his sword, Zaraki returned his gaze to the fight with Yachiru back on his shoulder. Yume sighed in relieft.

Turning his curious and analytical gaze to the former captain, Kurotsuchi started questioning him. "What brings you back to Seireitei, Nishizono? I've noticed that the girl's reiatsu is quite peculiar, can I use her some experiments? I promise that I will do my best to minimize the damages. She's from the real world isn't she? How can sh-"

Yume decided to ignore the 12th division's captain and focus all of his attention in Shi's fight. '_Come on Shi, you can do it!'_

-The Fight-

After the Gotei 13 leader left, Gin and Shi started to exchange blows once again, but this time it was more equal; both were attacking and blocking. Then both attacked simultaneously, strongly clashing their blades, what resulted in Shi being thrown several feet back. While the girl flied backwards, Gin jumped. "Shoot to kill, Shinsou." Sensing the fox-like captain's blade approach her, Shi steadied herself and jumped up too, just in time to dodge the hit. Shi was starting to grow tired, but she kept her stance, blocking Gin's blows and attacking him whenever she saw the chance. Realizing Shi's exhaustion, the zanpakutou decided that it was time to talk with its new master. _**'Call my name.'**_

Surprised by the sword's sudden words, Shi opened her guard a little, receiving a light cut in the right side of her abdomen. Recovering herself from the initial shock, the girl continued the fight, adopting a more defensive stance in order to give attention to the sword and keep her guard up. '_H-How? I don't know your name."_

'_**Yes, you do! I've already told you!'**_

'_But I was not able to understand it!'_

Gin appeared behind the teenager, whispering menacingly into her ear. "What did I say about payin' attention ta the fight?" Then he hit her side with his left hand, sending her to the ground.

Opening her eyes with difficult, Shi stared at the 3rd division's captain, who was looking down at her, but disappointment was marking his features instead of his usual grin. Turning her head to the side, the girl looked at her master through half-closed eyes, but was not able to focus on him so she closed her eyes. '_If Gin-san is disappointed with me, I can only imagine how master must be… I failed him.'_

'_**No you didn't! Call my name and use me! This way you'll live up to all of his expectations.'**_

'_What is your name?'_

'_**I've already told you! Look inside of you, in the deepness of your heart. I'm part of you now, I'm the one that will lock away your fears.'**_

'_Part of me… Lock away my fears…'_

Gin raised his hand in the girl's direction. "Hadou 31: Shakkahou."

Taking a hold the sword's hilt, Shi opened her eyes, kneeled on the ground and raised her zanpakutou in front of her, pointing it to the fox-like man that was up in the air.

"Purify, Kokoro no Kagi!"

Shi's zanpakutou released a huge amount of reiatsu in Gin's direction. The blast's color was mostly black with some streaks of gray, but it started to change, turning all gray, then all white. It was more than enough to stop Gin's Shakkahou, going full-force in the silver-haired captain's direction. Opening his red eyes, Gin jumped out of the way, but the blast's energy was extremely big, so it sent a pulse that made him fly far. '_So yer reiatsu is that big eh? Not bad Shi-chan… It's almos' captain-level.'_Gin regained his balance, keeping himself several feet above the ground, and examined the teenager beneath him.

Panting, Shi dropped to her knees and supported her upper-body with the zanpakutou, staring at the ground with glazed eyes. _'I-I did it! No. We did it.'_

Shi saw two feet in front of her and raised her gaze to see whose they were, but was not able to focus very well on the person. Though it seemed a woman dressed all in white and with angel's wings on her back. The angel-like woman smiled gently. _**'Yes, we did. But rest now, you've just used almost all of your reiatsu in that blast. And don't worry, you'll be able to talk with Yume latter.'**_

Shi passed out on the 3rd division's training fields.


	9. Chapter 8

**Hi! Thanks to winter vacations I was able to update sooner than the normal and still expect to update at least one more time before the end of July. ;)**

**Thanks for the favorites and reviews and I hope you enjoy chapter 8! =)**

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-With (unconscious) Shi-

Shi 'woke up' inside a big room; confused, the girl stood up and examined every inch of it. The room had a circle shape, in its center was a black grand piano and on the ceiling, right above the instrument, was an opening that allowed the moonlight to enter. Shi slowly walked towards the grand piano and tried to open its lid, but it was locked. The teenage girl sighed and looked up, staring at the full moon through the ceiling's opening. '_Where am I?'_

"You're in your inner world."

Surprised, Shi quickly turned her wide eyes towards the direction the voice had come from and the one who met her gaze was the woman with angel's wings. Something about her made Shi feel at ease, safe. "You are that woman I saw before I passed out, right? Who are you exactly? And what is this place?"

The angel-like woman smiled warmly to the confused girl standing by the piano and walked gracefully towards the instrument. "Who am I? You know already… Don't you remember my voice?"

The teenage girl made an even more confused expression, but it was soon replaced by one of shock. "Y-You are Kokoro no Kagi! I am so sorry I didn't recognize you right away! It i-"

Raising a hand to quiet the girl down, Kokoro no Kagi talked with a calm and soothing voice. "Don't worry about it. Now, I believe you would like to know why you're here, right?" Shi nodded. "Well, why don't you sit down? We have lots to talk about."

Sitting down on the piano's bench, Shi finally took a good look at her zanpakutou's form. The woman was beautiful and had golden eyes; her moves were graceful, calm and controlled, making her look like a very mature and experienced person. '_Just the opposite of my child-like attitude…' _Kokoro no Kagi was also very tall. '_I think she is almost as tall as master, and his height is 180 centimeters…'_ The angel-like woman had long white hair that reached the ground and her skin was as pale as the wings on her back. She was wearing a long-sleeved white blouse with golden patterns on the sleeves and collar that stopped just below her breasts; the sleeves' ends were very wide and looked like bells. The bottom-half was covered by white tights with the same golden patterns the blouse had and, over them, was a white and loose skirt that reached the woman's knees. The woman was wearing golden ballet shoes.

The angel-like woman sat besides Shi, smiling down at her. "So… Do you know what an inner world is?" Shi shook her head no. "An inner world is where a shinigami's zanpakutou lives. Its form ranges from person to person, showing their state of spirit; since their fears to their most cherished things or persons. In a way, you can say that your inner world is an incarnation of your fears, hopes and even love." The zanpakutou raised her gaze to look through the ceiling's opening. "Shi… Here is where I'll live from now on… What do you think of this place?"

Shi was staring intently to Kokoro no Kagi's profile, unsure of what to say. Keeping silent, she turned her gaze to the piano's closed lid and spent a few moments considering the question. '_What I think of it? According to Kokoro no Kagi-san, this represents my soul… I can not deny this place is very melancholic, but, at the same time, it is so peaceful. It seems that nothing will ever harm me in here, but it also seems that I will always stay here alone…' _

Raising her gaze to Kokoro no Kagi once again, Shi's confused brown eyes met the woman's curious golden ones. "I don't know what to say… I like this place, but not all of it. It makes me feel alone, but safe. These walls seem to keep anything away from me: sadness, fear… joy. I mean, even the piano's lid is closed to keep its sound away." Shi closed her eyes and shook her head, before returning her gaze to the angel-like woman. "I am sorry; nothing I said makes sense, right?

"You're wrong. Everything you said makes sense."

"But this is my soul, right? How can I like and not like it?"

The angel-like woman acquired a serious expression and spoke with a soft, but firm voice. "Child, all the human beings have something about them that they don't like; it can be their past, their appearance, their personality or even the people they live with. So when you say that you 'like, but don't like' the manifestation of your soul it's perfectly normal." Kokoro no Kagi smiled softly to Shi, who was now staring at her with wide eyes. "But I think that there's something you've forgot to consider."

Eyes glued on the angel-like woman, Shi asked with an eager and curious voice. "What did I forget?"

"The ceiling's opening."

"The ceiling's opening? What is the big deal about it?"

"Child, you say that this place isolates you, but you forget that you can get out of here; that opening is proof of it."

Shi raised an eyebrow, looking skeptically to the angel-like woman. "But it is on the ceiling… That is not a very reachable place you know." The woman smirked.

"That's what I meant by incarnating your fears." Shi stared at Kokoro no Kagi confused and a little skeptical, but the angel-like woman ignored her look and started playing with the girl's locket necklace, her smirk became a smile. "That opening shows that you wish to get out, to involve yourself with the 'outside world', though you're insecure about it and fear what the things and people may do to you... But don't forget: the light is getting in; the 'outside world' influences you too and, one day, this light that's coming in will not be enough and you will want to have more of it."

"So, in order to obtain more of this 'light' from the 'outside world' I will have to get out of my inner world through the ceiling's opening?"

Shaking her head and letting go of Shi's necklace, Kokoro no Kagi chuckled softly, what earned her a puzzled look from the teenager. '_Have I said something wrong? I just said the obvious conclusion one would come to after hearing what she said…But… What if the opening does not take me to the 'outside world'? After all, she never said that this room was my whole inner world…'_

Smirking a little, Shi talked with a proud voice. "I understand now. This room is not my entire inner world, is it?" A little surprised, the angel-like woman ceased her laughter and shook her head no. '_Oh my, that was fast.'_

"Then, if I do go outside, I will not obtain the 'light from the outside world' I'll just get to know more of my inner world. So tell me, why would I have to go through the ceiling's opening in order to get this 'light'?"

Kokoro no Kagi's surprised expression turned into an amused smirk. "That's something that you will have to find out yourself." The teenage girl pouted, but before she could open her mouth to complain, the woman resumed talking. "Now, our topic number 2: I know why I accepted you as my new master, but do you know why you need me specifically to be your zanpakutou?"

Head bowed and glazed look in her eyes, Shi shook her head no. "Every time I asked master about it he would say that it was not something for me to worry about and change the subject. Once, I pressed him about it and he got really mad at me, saying that I should just trust him and that he was tired of having to repeat himself. We had a really nasty argument that day. It took us a whole week to figure everything out and go back to talk with each other normally, so I never asked him again…"

Kokoro no Kagi just nodded her head. "I see… Well, I guess it is better this way. You'll find out his motives soon enough. Until then trust him, he is just doing what he can to protect you."

Raising her gaze to stare directly into Kokoro no Kagi's eyes, Shi asked with an aggravated voice. "To protect me from what? If you are talking about Hollows' attacks, I am more than capable of defending myself with hand-to-hand combat and Kidou spells. I-I just do not understand… Why would he hide something like that from me?"

The woman's smile saddened a bit and she rested her hand on the top of the girl's head, moving it in a soothing manner. "Calm down child, you will find out his motives soon enough, I know it. And you know that he loves you deeply and that all he's doing right now is to assure your well-being."

"I know that, but-"

"No buts. Just relax and forget about it, okay?" The girl nodded her head without even raising her eyes. "Good. Now our last topic: what are you going to say to Central 46?"

That got Shi's attention. The girl quickly raised her head; her eyes had an analytical glow in them and were staring into Kokoro no Kagi's amused orbs. '_This girl sure recovers fast…'_

"I completely forgot about that! Do you know how it is there? Who are the people that are going to decide what to do with me? How should I behave? Will master be there with me? W-"

The zanpakutou held the girl's shoulders gently, but firmly. "Calm down." Shi took a deep breath then nodded as a sign to continue. Kokoro no Kagi let go of the girl's shoulders. "I'm sorry, but I don't know much about Central 46. My former master was only called a couple of times to be praised about his work and one to be offered a spot in the royal guard, so I really don't know how they will behave in your situation. But I do have a few hundreds of years of experience with shinigami in general, so I believe I can help you a little."

Resisting the urge to ask what the royal guard was, the teenage girl looked to the angel-like woman with grateful eyes and a soft smile. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

The woman smiled back. "Don't worry about it; after all, you are my master now, so I'm here to protect you, no matter what."

-With Gin and Aizen-

Gin and Aizen were talking in the third division's yards, beneath one of the persimmon trees' shadow. Gin was admiring the rest of the trees while playing with a fruit, throwing it up and catching it repeatedly. Aizen was laying his back on the tree's trunk, observing his follower's back with a neutral expression on his face.

"The girl has been asleep for two days already Gin, she will wake up anytime now and I want you to be the first one she sees when she opens her eyes. Understand?"

Grin dropping a little, Gin sighed and stopped playing with the fruit. '_It seems I'll be stuck babysitting the girl all the time she stays here in Soul Society, eh? Well, I suppos' it could be wors'… At least the girl is a nice company, not to mention she's quite interestin'...'_ Taking a bite of the persimmon in his hand, the 3rd division's captain remembered the dinner he and Shi had together and how the girl stopped talking suddenly to avoid telling him something. Something he was decided to find out.

The fox-like captain's grin returned with full-force. "Hai, Aizen-taichou."

-Inside Shi's room (in 4th division)-

Yume was sitting on a chair by Shi's right bedside and the girl was sleeping on the bed in a fetal position; hugged to her sword. The former captain had his back laid on the chair's support and was staring at the teenager's face with an exhausted expression. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was not that 'nice messy' anymore, it was simply disgusting, since he had not showered or even brushed it for more than two days. Shi's condition was good and the 4th division's captain assured him that she just needed to rest to recover all the reiatsu that she used against Gin, but the redhead couldn't help it, specially not after Kurotsuchi had tried to take Shi to his labs for some 'routine tests'.

Lost in his thoughts, Yume didn't even realize Gin and Aizen entering the room. With a grin on his face, Gin stood besides the door to watch the 'master' work; Aizen walked until he was standing right behind the former captain and spoke with fake concern. "Is everything okay, Yume-san?"

Gin had to hold back a snicker. '_Ya sur' know how ta perform, neh Aizen-taichou?'_

The red-haired male jumped a little at hearing the other man's voice, but soon recovered his composure, or what was left of it, and turned his tired eyes to the 5th division's captain. "Yes, Retsu-san told me she's going to wake up anytime now."

Aizen closed his eyes and smiled kindly to the redhead. "That's good. But I was asking about you Yume-san…" Opening his eyes, Aizen gazed intently into Yume's suspicious green orbs with a disapproving look on his face. "Yume-san, you're not okay. You're as pale as a ghost."

"I just need to tan a little." Gin couldn't help but chuckle at that, what earned him a glare from Aizen.

"No, you don't; your skin is naturally tanned. Now, as I was saying, you have bags and dark circles under your eyes, and you've most certainly lost weight." The brown-haired captain bent down a little and sniffed the air around the redhead, but straightened up almost immediately with his left hand over his nose and mouth, making the silver-haired captain let out another chuckle. "Not to mention your hygiene state. When was the last time you showered?"

Yume rolled his eyes. "You know the answer to this already." The redhead resumed staring at the sleeping girl. "If that's the reason you came for, the door is over there."

Aizen sighed exasperated. "That's not the reason we came here for. We came here to get you out of this room for a few hours; you need to eat something Yume-san. So come with us, you can clean yourself in my squad and we'll go lunch in a nice restaurant. What do you say?" Yume snorted.

"I think that's a splendid idea, Aizen-taichou."

All eyes turned to the room's entrance, where the 4th division's captain stood with a smile on her face. Gin's grin widened slightly. '_Hehehe… Now ya won't be able ta say no Yume-chan. Aizen-taichou sur' was pretty smart in choosing the check-up hour ta show up…'_

Yume's head dropped; he knew that Unohana would make him go lunch with Aizen and Gin, even if she had to sedate him to make that happen. But that didn't stop him from complaining. "Retsu-san, you said yourself that Shi's going to wake up anytime now. I've already spent two days in here; a few more hours won't hurt."

The female captain walked to Shi's free bedside to check the girl's status, standing directly in front of Yume. After she was done checking the girl's condition, Unohana looked to Yume with a sinister smile on her face. "Yume, you will get out of this room for a few hours and relax a little."

Yume gulped, scared by the woman in front of him, but kept going. "What if she wakes up while I'm gone?"

Unohana sighed. "I did say she would wake up soon, but this 'soon' ranges from 6 hours to a whole day, so don't worry about it."

"What if Kurotsuchi comes back to try to experiment on her again?"

The female captain's spiritual pressure started rising in the room, but she was careful not to affect the sleeping girl. Aizen took a few steps back, stopping besides Gin, who was making a huge effort not to burst out laughing. '_That wasn't a very smart thing ta say, Yume-chan…' _

Yume froze and felt cold sweat streaking down his neck; he gulped, not daring to move his wide and alert eyes from the woman smiling sinisterly in front of him. Unohana spoke with a soft but dangerous voice, making the redhead even more scared for his life.

"You're insinuating that my division isn't safe Yume-san? That I'm not capable of taking good care of my patients?"

Yume gulped once again. "O-Of course not Retsu-san…"

"Then you will prove it to me by having lunch with Aizen-taichou and Ichimaru-taichou… Right?" Yume nodded slowly, avoiding sudden moves. That was enough to Unohana; the female captain lowered her spiritual pressure and walked calmly towards the door, as if nothing had happened. But, before walking out of the room, she turned to Yume with that dangerous smile on her face. "If you come back here in less than four hours, I'll arrange a room here in my division just for you, is that okay Yume-san?"

Yume nodded his head with a nervous smile stretched on his face, understanding the true meaning of her words. '_If I come back earlier she'll kick my ass.' _Reluctantly, he stood up.

"Good. Bye Ichimaru-taichou, Aizen-taichou."

Gin waved his left hand. "Bye, bye!"

Aizen bowed a little. "Have a nice day Unohana-taichou. And thank you for your help; I don't think I would've been able to convince Yume-san if you weren't here."

"Don't worry about it Aizen-taichou. Just help him relax a little." The 5th division's captain nodded with a reassuring smile. Unohana smiled back and left the room to take care of other patients.

Aizen turned to Yume, who was glaring at him. "I blame you for this, Aizen." The 5th division's captain sighed and walked besides the former captain.

Aizen rested his right hand on the redhead's left shoulder and started pushing him out the room, but the red-head was not cooperating, keeping his feet firm on the ground. Gin was watching the scene with amusement written all over his face. '_Gues' that it's my time ta act.' _Taking a step forward, Gin sighed and dropped his grin a little, pretending to be tired of Yume's stubbornness.

"Yume-chan, would ya be calmer if I stayed here with the girl?"

Aizen smiled secretly. '_Perfect timing, Gin.' _Eyes wide, Yume stared at the silver-haired captain, obviously surprised and dubious of his act of 'kindness'.

"Why would you do that?"

Gin sighed once more. "I've already had lunch. Ya see, I didn't intend ta come here today, but I bumped into Aizen-taichou and he invited me ta come with him and, sinc' I didn't hav' anything better ta do, I accepted the offer." Grin back in place, Gin continued. "I can see that ya don't want the girl ta wak' up alone, but ya'll be gone jus' for a few hours, neh? I can stay here with the girl until ya return so, if she wak's up, she won't be alone; I kinda owe her her that since I'm the one that put her here."

Aizen decided to join the conversation. "There you go Yume-san; Ichimaru-taichou will stay here with the girl and if she wakes up while we're out, what is most unlikely, he'll get someone to warn us, right Ichimaru-taichou?"

"Yep."

Yume looked to one man, to the other and then rested his gaze on the floor sighing. "Alright, guess that's better than nothing. Let's go before I change my mind." Aizen smiled happily to Yume and guided him out the room, throwing a satisfied look over his shoulder to Gin.

Now alone in the room, Gin stopped grinning and sat down on the chair previously occupied by Yume and took his time examining Shi's form. '_The girl seems ta be jus' fine, I don't understand why Yume-chan was so worried… It mus' be that fatherly love bullshit.' _Gin opened his eyes a little, keeping his gaze on the girl's face. '_It's funny; she looks ta be older and more mature when she's sleepin', while mos' people look more innocent and child-like.' _Grin back in place, the fox-like man closed his eyes again and rested his back on the chair's support.

"I'm dying ta find out what ya're keeping bottled up in you, Shi-chan."

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**Hope you liked chapter 8!**

**Review please!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Hello everyone! As promised, here's chapter 9. =)**

**I'll be going on a trip tomorrow and, after that, ****I'll go back to my studies****, even though I'll still be on vacations - a sad but necessary thing to the people who want to get into medical school - so I don't think I'll be able to post chapter 10 before August. XP**

**Also, I'm looking for beta readers to this fanfic so if anyone is interested or knows someone that may be, please send me a message. =)**

**That said, hope you like the chapter 9 of Lock.**

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-With Aizen and Yume-

Aizen was standing by a window in his personal quarters with a satisfied and cruel smile on his face, waiting for Yume to finish showering, when someone knocked on the door. '_As punctual as always, Momo.' _Softening his smile, the 5th division's captain went to slide open the door. Standing outside was the 5th division's lieutenant with a cart full of delicious-looking food in front of her. When the door opened, the small woman looked up at her captain and smiled brightly.

"Aizen-taichou, I've brought the food as you requested."

With his soft and kind smile, Aizen opened more the door so Hinamori was able to push the cart inside and set the table for him and Yume. "I'm sorry for asking this of you Hinamori-kun; I know that you didn't become a shinigami to bring people their food… Believe me, I just asked you to do this because I didn't wish to leave Yume-san alone right now."

Blushing slightly, the 5th division's lieutenant shook her head and spoke with a soft voice. "There's no need to apologize, Aizen-taichou. I'm happy I was able to help you."

"Thank you Hinamori-kun, I really appreciate it." Taking a few steps forward, the brunette captain rested his hand on the girl's shoulder, what caused her to widen her eyes and her face to get redder. "As a sign of my gratitude, you can have the rest of the day off."

"T-There's no ne-"

"I insist. Besides, I know that you've already finished all of your daily paperwork, so there's no need for you to remain here. Go have some fun."

The small lieutenant nodded her head and smiled to her captain. Smiling back, Aizen walked the small woman to the door. "Thank you, Aizen-taichou! But call me if you need anything."

"Don't worry about that."

The door had just closed when Yume left the bathroom; he was drying his hair with a towel and wearing a clean shihakusho. "She's a nice girl, your lieutenant."

Smiling to the redhead, Aizen replied. "Yes, I'm very lucky to have her as my lieutenant." The brunette sat down at the table and motioned for the redhead to do the same. "I thought you'd be more comfortable eating here than in a restaurant, so I asked Hinamori-kun to prepare lunch for us, Yume-san. Is it okay for you? Or would you rather go to a restaurant as I've said?"

Chuckling a little, Yume shook his head and took his place at the table. "You're just as thoughtful as I remember, Aizen; of course I'm okay with eating here."

"I'm glad to hear that. Now let's eat, you must be starving."

The former captain nodded his head and started filling his plate with all the types of food, mostly of them had meat though, and the brunette got himself a salad and a plate of zarusoba. A triumphant smirk threatened to stretch across Aizen's face when Yume started to eat. '_You're still the meat-lover I remember Yume, that's why I had Momo to put a soporific in all the types of meat here. Though this soporific makse the individual sleep for many hours, it is quickly metabolized by the organism, so not even Unohana will be able to detect it in your body. Using Kyouka Suigetsu was easy to make Momo think that she was simply seasoning the food.' _Aizen watched Yume dig in the mountain of food on his plate silently. Only after the redhead had finished his first plate and was filling his next one with food the brunette male dared to speak, keeping his tone as friendly as humanly possible.

"I trust the food is of your liking, Yume-san?" The redhead nodded and started eating in a slower pace. "I'm glad. So… how've you been in these last decades?"

Yume swallowed the food inside his mouth and stared at the 5th division's captain, raising his eyebrows. "I've been good… But that's not what you really want to know is it?" The brunette shook his head no. "You want to know why I came back here after more than half a century to steal one of the forbidden zanpakutou, for a human girl nonetheless, right?"

"Only if you don't mind telling me."

Yume sighed, resting his chopsticks on the table besides his plate. "I guess there's no harm in telling you a little about it…" Face serious, the redhead started telling the story. "I've been taking care of that girl, Shi, for four years now; you can say I'm kind of her stepfather. Anyway, you must've noticed that her reiatsu is different from everyone else's." Aizen nodded his head. "I don't know why it's like that, but Shi was being able to control it with a little help of mine un-"

Furrowing his eyebrows, Aizen asked feigning an innocent curiosity. "Why do you need to help the girl to keep her reiatsu under control? And how do you do it?"

Yume hesitated and stared at Aizen for some moments. _'This is Shi's business so I can't tell him everything about her reiatsu, but I guess she won't mind if I tell just some things.' _The brunette captain pretended not to notice the redhead's hesitance.

With an easy-going voice, Yume answered Aizen's question. "Shi is just a human therefore she wasn't made to control a reiatsu that big, so the energy inside of her could end up damaging things and people – more specifically me - around her and grabbing the attention of Hollows; and to help Shi control her reiatsu I keep most of it sealed inside of her. Now, as I was saying, about a year ago, Shi's reiatsu started growing very rapidly and she wasn't able to keep it under control with the half of her reiatsu that we kept sealed away. To help her regain control over it definitely, I tried sealing it all away, but it made her feel weak and tired all the time. We waited for a week to see if she would get better, but she only got weaker and weaker so we decided to release a third of her reiatsu. We had to increase the amount of the sealed reiatsu monthly so she could keep it under control what made me see that soon we had to do something permanent about it."

Aizen took a sip of his tea, keeping his curious eyes glued on the redhead. "And that something has to do with the zanpakutou you stole…"

Yume nodded his head and took a hold of his chopsticks again. "Yes. When I was still a student in the Academy I found out about the forbidden zanpakutou and they soon picked my interested." The redhead swallowed a slice of meat and smirked. "You know me, when something caughts my interest I have to know everything about it, so I researched about the most interesting of the forbidden zanpakuto, among them was Kokoro no Kagi, the zanpakutou we stole. It belonged to Kazeya Mishin about 500 years ago… Do you know who he was?"

"I've heard some stories about him… He was the 3rd division's captain before dying in a battle against a Hollow right?"

"Not just a Hollow, a Vasto Lorde. Mishin was sent on a mission to the human world to chec-"

"I'm sorry Yume-san, but could we leave this story for another time? It seems to be a pretty interesting one, but I don't think I would be able to give it the deserved attention in the moment since you left the girl's background half-told."

Yume pouted, but agreed nonetheless. "Fair enough, but it IS a great story. So, Kokoro no Kagi is a very special zanpakutou; its purifying powers are extremely strong. For example, you know how the Hollows that committed many sins in their human lives go to Hell instead of Soul Society when we kill them?" Aizen nodded. "That zanpakutou is able of purifying those souls and send them here."

The brunette stopped eating and nodded his head in understanding. "I see. So you thought that if the girl was accepted by the zanpakutou her reiatsu would be purified by it, making it easier for her to keep it under control." That said, Aizen resumed eating the remaining zarusoba in his plate.

"Exactly. And it worked; that bolt Shi threw at Gin had most of her reiatsu and it was totally purified."

Aizen nodded in understanding. "So that's why the girl's reiatsu changed from black to white…" Yume nodded his head. "By the way, I must say that her reiatsu was quite big… It was almost at captain's level."

Yume yawned. "Yeah… I know. But, even now, she will only have two thirds of it available to use… I will keep the rest (yawn) sealed away, just to be sure."

'_The soporific is starting to affect him.' _Smirking on the inside, Aizen asked. "Are you tired, Yume-san? Perhaps you'd like to rest before going back to the 4th division; I can easily arrange a place for you to sleep."

Yume shook his head, but couldn't help yawning again. "N-No it's okay… I don't want to bother you. Not to mention that I'd like to walk around Seireitei and see if anything has changed, after all it's been more than half a century since I last came here."

The brunette shrugged his shoulders. "You do have a point there. Let's go then, I'll give you a tour around the place."

The redhead stood up yawning, but his eyelids were heavy and his feet weren't able to keep him well-balanced. "Thanks, Aizen…Y-You're a… good…frie-" Pretending to be worried, the 5th division's captain ran to Yume's side and grabbed his shoulders to stead him.

"I really think you should rest a little, Yume-san… Yume-san?"

Aizen looked down and saw that Yume was already fast asleep. Allowing a satisfied smirk to stretch across his face, the brunette threw the former captain on his bed and left his quarters. '_Sweet dreams.'_

-With Gin and Shi-

Four hours passed since Gin started watching the girl. Currently, the 3rd division's captain was looking out the window and watching the sun start to set. '_I'm so bored… Wish the girl jus' wok' up, but Unohana said that's still at least 2 hours left.' _Footsteps started approaching and the fox-like captain recovered his trademark grin to receive the person that was coming. '_Speakin' of the devil…'_

The 4th division's captain entered the room and smiled to Gin. "Good afternoon Ichimaru-taichou; I'm glad I caught you still in here."

Feigning confusion, Gin tilted his head to the side. "And why's that?" '_It seems Aizen already brought sleepin' beauty back here...'_

Unohana closed her eyes and sighed. "A few minutes ago, Aizen-taichou came here with an unconscious Yume; we believe he passed out from exhaustion two hours after leaving this room. Aizen-taichou decided to let him sleep for the couple of hours he had left, but couldn't wake him up and, worried about his health, brought him here."

"Is Yume-chan okay?"

"He's fine; we examined him from head to toe and found nothing wrong. But we'll have to wait for him to wake up on his own."

Gin frowned. "And ya want me ta stay here with the girl until she wakes up…"

"Of course you don't have to do that, but I would appreciate it very much." Unohona smiled and her voice acquired that dangerous and sweet tone that only she could muster. "Just like I'm sure you and your squad appreciate the medical support we give you whenever it's needed." _'Translation: "Ya don't hav' ta stay here, but if ya don't, ya and yer subordinates may start sufferin' from medical "accidents".'_

Pretending to be unhappy with the situation, the fox-like male sighed. "I gues' it'll be okay; it's not lik' I would do my paperwork anyway."

"Thank you, Ichimaru-taichou." The female captain walked out the room, throwing a "Let me know when the girl wakes up." over her shoulder.

Grinning, Gin sat down on the chair by Shi's bed. '_Aizen sure is smart; now I jus' hav' ta wait for a couple of hours…' _Grin turning into a frown, the fox-like captain sighed._ 'And that's veeeeeeeery boring…'_

-Three hours later (still with Gin)-

Still sitting on the chair by Shi's bed, the fox-like captain was glaring at the sleeping girl. '_Aren't ya a heavy sleeper? Wak' up already, damn it. Why didn't I kill ya when I had the chance? Oh yeah; ya're interestin'… but only when ya're awak'! Open yer eyes already!' _Dropping his glare, Gin sighed exasperated.

"This babysitting job's startin' ta bore me far too much; I need some entertainment. I think I'll start carryin' a book with me for situations lik' this… What do ya think, Shi-chan? That sounds lik' the kind of thing ya would do, neh?"

A mocking voice came from the door. "You carrying a book? You don't strike me as the reading type, Ichimaru."

Not even turning around, the 3rd division's captain answered, recovering his grin and the cheerfulness in his voice. "Really? Gues' I'm better at judgin' characters than ya then, because' I've always thought of ya as the eavesdropping type and ya jus' proved me right, Mayuri-chan."

Kurotsuchi gritted his teeth. "You should learn to hold your tongue Ichimaru, or else someone might cut it off."

The fox-like male turned his chair around, scratching its feet on the ground and making a screechy sound just to annoy the 12th division's captain. '_Who would've gues'd? There is a God, and He's hearin' my prayers for entertainment hehehe…' _Standing right under the door were Kurotsuchi Mayuri and Kurotsuchi Nemu. The 12th division's captain had a sick smile on his face and his eyes were glued on the sleeping girl's form, analyzing every detail of it. '_He's already thinkin' wher' he would start cuttin' up the girl in a vivisection. Obviously he knows that he won't be able ta tak' the girl's unconscious body away from Unohana's sight… right?' _Besides Kurotsuchi was his emotionless-looking lieutenant, she was holding a tray with some syringes, vials and a scalpel, the last items caused a sweat drop to appear behind the fox-like captain's head. '_Don't tell me ya intend ta cut her open here…'_

Staring at Kurotsuchi with his trademark grin, Gin talked with a mocking voice. "If that happened I'd jus' ask Unohana-san to fix it for me. After all, she's the one that has mor' knowledge about anatomy here in Seireitei."

The 12th division's captain narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw, hard. "Don't talk nonsense you simple-minded fox, I'm the one that knows the most about anatomy and you know it! Even more, I'm the one that knows the most about anything in the Soul Society; that's why I'm in control of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute."

Gin tilted his head to the side and talked with a mocking-intrigued voice. "Really? I thought that it was jus' becaus' the former captain of the 12th division had ta be banned from Soul Society and ya were in line ta be his replacement, so they **had** ta giv' ya the job."

"SHUT UP YOU MORON! I'M-"

Gin raised his finger to his lips, shushing the glaring captain in front of him. "Ya're in 4th division's medical wing, so ya hav' ta keep silent for the patients' sak'."

Kurotsuchi understood the true meaning of the fox-like man's sentence. _"Ya're in Unohana's division, so ya better shut yer mouth to avoid her noticing ya're here; for my entertainment's sake." _The 12th division's captain ceased screaming, but he kept his murderous glare on the 3rd division's captain's figure.

Ignoring the other man's glare, Gin's grin widened. "What are ya doin' here?"

Kurotsuchi snorted. "Isn't it obvious? Nishizono and Unohana aren't here, so I came to gather information on the ryoka. Now, get out of my way so I can begin." The 12th division's captain grabbed a syringe that was on the plate Nemu was holding and started walking towards Shi, but Gin stood up and took a step forward, stopping Kurotsuchi. "Out. Of. My. Way."

"I don't think so. Ya see, I promised Yume-chan and Unohana-san that I would tak' care of the girl and they'll kill little me here if I let ya do only God knows what to her."

The scientist hardened his glare. "I'm going to kill you now if you don't get out of my way."

Gin's grin stretched and he rested his hand on his zanpakutou's hilt. "I'm mor' willin' ta tak' my chances with ya. I was bored outta my mind anyway, so a fight sounds interestin' right now."

Putting the syringe back on the plate his lieutenant was holding, Kurotsuchi allowed a sick smile to stretch across his lips while he stared at Gin over his shoulder. "You'll regret this when you become one of my laboratory's rats."

"We'll see ab-"

"S-Stop you t-two..." Both captains turned their gazes to Shi; the girl was opening her eyes slowly.

Gin's grin got even wider, looking like it would break his face in half. '_Finally ya're awak', and with Mayuri in the room nonetheles'. Hehehe… This ought ta be interestin'!'_

* * *

**Now you know a little more about Yume and Shi's reasons to steal Kokoro no Kagi. ;) ****By the way, Kokoro no Kagi means 'key of the heart'.**

**Hope you liked chapter 9! Review please. =)**


	11. Chapter 10

**Hello! I know I said that I wouldn't post another chapter before August, but inspiration came to me and I was able to write yet another chapter of 'Lock'! =D **

**Since today is the birthday of one of my older brothers, I'll dedicate this chapter to him... though he doesn't even know Bleach. XP**

**Also, today is the last day of my Winter Vacations (T.T), so I made this chapter extra long ****(almost 5000 words) ****as a good-bye to them. **

**Now, to the story! ;)**

* * *

-In Shi's room-

After opening her eyes, Shi spent some moments staring at the sword in her hands with a blank face, forgetting about the other people that were in the room. '_Was it all just a dream? No, it felt far too real and I was far too conscious. Kokoro no Kagi said that we were in my inner world; that place must exist somewhere inside of me…' _The girl's eyes widened slightly and she sat up quickly, surprising both captains that were watching her; the 3rd division captain had interest in his eyes while the 12th division one had impatience. _'But, where was he? He should have been there too! I have been hearing him since I can remember so he is part of me; hence he should be there in my inner world! Wait. I remember something about that room not being my entire inner world, so he must on the outside of that room.' _Shi closed her eyes and sighed in relief. '_I hope he is okay, though I must admit that I am happy for not having to share my dreams with him anymore…'_

The 12th scientist-captain still wanted to find out why the ryoka's reiatsu was so different, so, since she was awake now, he decided he would try to convince her to allow him to experiment on her. If she didn't agree to that… well; he had his ways of doing things. Kurotsuchi may not be the most sociable being but, being the avid and manipulative researcher he is, he understood very well how social contracts work, so he knew that first impressions were very important when trying to obtain something from someone; therefore he decided to wait for the girl to feel comfortable enough to speak with him to get on her good side. He waited for a minute; a vein was pulsing in his forehead. 2 minutes; his jaw was clenched. 3 minutes; he was glaring daggers at the girl. Before the 4th minute of silence was complete, he burst. '_The hell with the social contracts, if the girl isn't stupid enough to be convinced I'll just do things my way!' _Gin watched the man explode with an amused grin on his face.

"Say something already! Or did your brain's occipital lobe melt while you were asleep, stupid girl?"

Shi laid Kokoro no Kagi on the bed beside her and turned her head to Kurotsuchi, frowning a little. '_There was no need to be so rude._' The man was glaring at her, his jaw was clenched and his teeth were showing, but neither in a smile nor in a grin; hell, it wasn't even a smirk._ 'Do most of people here have these funny expressions?' _Then Shi noticed he was wearing a white haori and sighed. '_Must be a captain trait. Taking in account what I heard from his talk with Gin-san he must be Kurotsuchi Mayuri, not only he is a captain but he also leads the Shinigami Research and Development Institute. Master told me to be very careful around him.'_

Not moving her gaze from Kurotsuchi, the girl blinked and said with an apologetic voice. "I'm sorry, sir. I guess I got carried away with my thoughts and forgot about you."

The man's glare turned to a disdainful look and he relaxed his jaw. "Do not let it happen again, stupid girl." At hearing the insult, Shi narrowed her eyes.

Gin decided to join the conversation and started speaking with a cheerful voice. "Well, introductions: Shi-cha,n this is Kurotsuchi Mayuri, he's the 12th division's captain, but ya can call him jus' Mayuri-chan!" That phrase alone made said captain glare daggers at the fox-like one.

"THE HELL SHE CAN! NO ONE CAN CALL ME THAT, MUCH LESS YOU, IMBECILE!" Kurotsuchi turned his fierce gaze to Shi, making her press her back into the bed's support in fright. "You will call me Kurotsuchi-sama, understand?" Shi nodded, not daring to turn her wide and scared eyes from Kurotsuchi's angry ones.

The fox-like captain put himself in front of Kurotsuchi with his hands raised in a surrender manner. "Calm down, I was jus' kiddin'! No need ta kill the girl with yer glare." Only after the scientist-captain dropped his glare, Gin stepped back and resumed talking. "And that girl back ther' is his lieutenant and daughter Kurotsuchi Nemu."

Shi waved and smiled to Nemu, who nodded in return. '_That girl looks nothing at all like him. I know that sometimes a child looks more like one of his or her parents than the other, but these two have no similarities whatsoever.' _Not giving Gin the chance to speak again, Shi turned to the 12th division's captain with a curious gaze.

"Is she really your daughter, Kurotsuchi-sama?"

All eyes turned to the scientist-captain, who was still looking with disdain to the human girl, but it was less than before since he was pleased by her calling him Kurotsuchi-sama as he had ordered. '_At least the ryoka has more respect than most of the baboons here. But who would ask me something like that in this situation? Maybe it was her fontal lobe that melted.'_

"I created her, that's why she is my daughter."

That picked Shi's interest; her eyes widened slightly and her mouth's corners turned upwards. "You created her? You mean she's a robot? Or did you use biotechnology to give her life? If it is the last one, how did you do it? You inserted your DNA in a stem cell and made it multiply itself? No, forget it; if that was the case she would look like you. Maybe you used someone else's DNA? But who would al-"

Brow twitching, Kurotsuchi decided to silence the human girl. "Shut up already!" Shi closed her mouth immediately and Kurotsuchi sighed irritated.

The human teenager was reading herself to be cursed at by the 12th division's captain, but that didn't happen. Dropping his scornful expression, Kurotsuchi seemed to be eluded by something. '_This ryoka likes science and have a very curious nature. It'll be easy to persuade her into participating in my experiments! I just have to offer her the chance to see the insides of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute and maybe interact with some of the minor procedures there.' _

The scientist-captain directed his now excited eyes to Shi, grinning creepily. The girl gulped and turned her slightly scared orbs to Gin momentarily; he was looking straight to her with his trade-mark grin. When he noticed the teenager's eyes on him, the silver-haired male waved softly as if confirming that he was still there for her, in case anything happened. This motion had the desired effect: the girl relaxed a little and turned her gaze back to Kurotsuchi. That boost in Shi's security was expected, since she did spend more time with Gin than anyone else in the room and the silver-haired male had yet to give her reasons to doubt him. '_Hehehe, ya're makin' this trust game far too easy, Shi-chan.' _

Ignoring the exchange of glances between the ryoka and the 3rd division's captain, Kurotsuchi resumed talking with a triumphant voice. "You like science, stup- I mean, girl?" Shi nodded her head. "Are you curious to know how I created Nemu? I can assure you that I didn't use any human technology to do that." Shi nodded again. "I'll teach you then. Maybe I'll even let you help me in some of my laboratory's experiments."

Gin furrowed his eyebrows confused. '_Ya would never offer ta teach anyone anythin' for free, let alone play around in yer lab... ya'll try ta bribe her into letting ya experiment with her, neh Kurotsuchi?'_

Shi's eyes widened and her jaw dropped a little; she was so mesmerized by the chance to learn from the head-scientist from the Shinigami Research and Development Institute that she even forgot about Yume's warning concerning Kurotsuchi. "Really? I would love that! If it is not a bother for you, Kurotsuchi-sama."

Kurotsuchi's grin widened, competing even with Gin's trade-mark one. _'This girl is as dumb as I first thought; it'll be quite easy to manipulate her.'_

Gin decided it was time for him to interfere on the dialogue and took a step forward, looking into Shi's eyes. "Ya better keep yer excitement down Shi-chan, it's keepin' ya from thinkin' properly." Then he turned to the scientist-captain with a smirk. "And ya better tell her what ya want in exchange for doin' that, Mayuri-chan."

Kurotsuchi glared daggers at the fox-like man and grabbed his zanpakutou's hilt. "It's Kurotsuchi-sama to you, stupid fox!"

Still smiling to the 12th division's captain, Shi ignored Gin's warning and asked excited. "What do you want in exchange for letting me into your laboratory, Kurotsuchi-sama?"

All three pairs of eyes turned to Shi with shock in them; even the emotionless Nemu was astounded by the girl's lack of common-sense. Kurotsuchi's grin returned full-force while Gin slapped himself in frustration. '_What the hell are ya thinkin', Shi-chan? Forget this question, ya're obviously not thinkin'. Not even God knows what kind of experiments he'll do ta ya if ya let him, so don't look so yearn ta follow his ev'ry command! If I didn't know ya're smart I would confuse yer naivety for lack of IQ.' _

"Ya know, I think ya both should leav' the room so Shi-can can rest; obviously she's not feelin' well."

Still excited about gaining access to Kurotuchi's laboratory Shi didn't notice that Gin was just trying to get said man away from her and actually thought that he was worried about her well-being, so she smiled to him reassuringly. "Thank you Gin-san, but there is no need to worry about me; I am feeling just fine." A huge sweat-drop formed on the back of fox-like man's head. '_I can't believ' this shit…'_

Kurotsuchi threw a triumphant smirk at the 3rd division's captain. "See, Ichimaru? The girl has no problems to talk to me, but if you are so concerned for her well-being why don't you go get her a bottle of water while we talk? I'm sure the girl must be thirsty after so much time sleeping." Gin's left eyebrow twitched, but he kept his grin in place.

Once again, the teenage girl didn't notice the true meaning behind the words. "I am okay, Kurotsuchi-sama. Now, what do you want in exchange of granting me some access to the Shinigami Research and Development Institute?"

Kurotsuchi looked at the smiling girl with the most easy-going smile he could muster, even if it wasn't easy-going at all, and talked with a nonchalant voice. "I just want to run some tests on you."

Shi's excitement vanished almost completely and she regarded the scientist-captain with a skeptical look on her face; her voice was not nearly as excited as before. "Why?"

The fox-like captain's grin returned. '_Now that's the girl I've met.' _

In turn, Kurotsuchi's smile disappeared; he was hoping that the girl would be so blind with excitement that she wouldn't ask anything before agreeing with him.

The scientist-captain snorted. "Isn't it obvious, stupid girl? You're a human and this is the Soul Society, where only spirits live; you're a one time opportunity to study how the humans' reiatsu works."

Shi smirked, making Gin widen his grin. "Do not lie to me, Kurotsuchi-sama."

"What makes you think I'm lying to you, stupid girl?"

"You shinigami have a way to the human world here in Seireitei, the Senkaimon, so you are perfectly able to go there to study the humans' reiatsu. Even if you were not allowed to do so, what I doubt, I am pretty sure that you would not hesitate to break the rules if it meant advances in your research."

Kurotsuchi glared daggers at the girl. "Of course I wouldn't! A true scientist doesn't care if other people approve or not his research; he just keep going on and on until he knows everything about his subject. And, after he does, he targets his interests into something new, repeating the cycle. That's what a true scientist does!"

"And you consider yourself a true scientist Kurotsuchi-sama?"

Kurotsuchi walked towards Shi menacingly, with murder written in his eyes, but Gin put himself on his way to keep the girl from getting killed. "I'm not only a true scientist, stupid girl! I AM THE BEST!"

Shi sighed, but she had a smile on her face. "Then I guess I can not deny what you are asking of me… though there will be limitations to the experiments."

That shocked Kurotsuchi, making his murderous intent disappear; the scientist captain stared silently at the girl with a curious look on his face. Gin, on the other hand, turned to the girl and started questioning her, he was not grinning now. "What? This is a jok', right? He'll open ya up and turn yer insides upside down!"

Shi smiled reassuringly at the fox-like male. "That is why I said that there will be limitations to the experiments."

Gin seemed to be exasperated. "That's not the point!" '_The point is that Yume-chan wil' murder me_ _befor' ya can blink if he finds out that I let ya be convinced into something lik' that!'_

Kurotsuchi decided to interfere before Gin was able to convince the girl to back off the agreement. "Whatever the point is we don't care; now go somewhere else that the girl doesn't need you here anymore, you stupid fox. She and I have things to discuss." The scientist-captain walked forward and sat down on the chair by Shi's bed, motioning for his lieutenant to take the tray with the equipments to him.

Gin chose to ignore the 12th division's captain's words and recovered his grin, keeping his body on Nemu's way. "What if I don't wanna go, eh Mayuri-chan? I'm sur' Shi-chan doesn't mind me bein' here."

Both men stared at Shi expectantly. The girl blushed, bowed her head and spoke with a soft and child-like voice. "I am sorry, but I would prefer if Gin-san stayed here, Kurotsuchi-sama." The fox-like man's grin turned into a triumphant smirk while Kurotsuchi narrowed his eyes at him. '_I'll kill that stupid fox if he gets in my way!"_

"See, I told ya!"

"But I also would prefer if you did not interfere in my decisions, Gin-san." It was Kurotsuchi's turn to smirk triumphantly.

"You heard the girl; now be a good pet-fox and get out of Nemu's way so we can start."

Shi watched Gin drop his grin and glare at the 12th division's captain while he stepped aside, allowing Nemu to reach her captain. '_How did he manage to glare at Kurotsuchi-sama without opening his eyes is something I will never know.' _When his lieutenant was close enough, Kurotsuchi grabbed a syringe and a latex tourniquet rubber from the plate she was holding but, before he could do anything, he was stopped by Shi.

"I think we should discuss the terms of our arrangement first."

The scientist-captain glared at the human girl but stopped nonetheless. "Alright. Go ahead and name your limitations, stupid girl."

Shi sighed tiredly. "Ok. First: you are not going to inject me with anything, unless I allow it. Second: you will not cut me open, maybe an incision or two, if necessary, but nothing drastic. Third: I want to be conscious during all the tests and such. And the fourth and most important condition: I want to know everything you find out about me."

Kurotsuchi scoffed. "I can deal with these conditions." _'For now.' _ "Now, give me your arm, stupid girl." Shi stretched her right arm and the scientist started tying the tourniquet rubber tightly around her upper arm. "Why do you want so much to know what I find out about you?"

Shi answered while attentively observing her blood being drawn by the syringe. "My reiatsu is different and that is why you want to study me, right Kurotsuchi-sama?" Kurotsuchi nodded and replaced the ampoule full of blood for an empty one. "I want to know why my reiatsu is like that."

Drawing a third ampoule of blood, Kurotsuchi answered annoyed. "I deduced that already, stupid girl. What I'm asking is why you want so much to find out what's different about your reiatsu."

Shi's eyes turned glazed while she watched the scientist-captain draw the fourth and last ampoule of blood. Gin noticed this and paid more attention to the girl's words. "Since I was younger I have felt… well, let us say different. Some months ago, this feeling started to grow extremely rapidly and I was not able to adjust, but, since Kokoro no Kagi changed my reiatsu during my fight with Gin-san, I have felt normal, whatever that means. Hence I am pretty sure that this sensation is related my different reiatsu and I want to know more about it, after all, it has troubled me since I can remember."

Kurotsuchi stared curiously at Shi but it was Gin who asked the one-million dollar question. "What do ya mean by 'troubled ya', eh?" Shi smiled to Gin; it was the same smile she gave him when she said that she already 'had the worst possible' the first time they talked. Gin sighed. "Ya don't intend ta answer me do ya?" Shi shook her head no, keeping the same smile on her face.

Kurotsuchi put the ampoules full of blood in a thermal box and untied the tourniquet rubber from Shi's arm. Standing up to throw the syringe away, he said with an annoyed voice. "Since I'll have other opportunities to collect tissues from your body, I'll examine just your blood for now. But, after the Central 46 decides what to do with you, we'll go to my laboratory so I can run more tests to analyze all the aspects of your reiatsu and body function."

Shi nodded her head and smiled brightly, excited with the prospect of going to Kurotsuchi's lab. "Understood, Kurotsuchi-sama." Kurotsuchi and Nemu walked towards the door to leave the room. "Bye Kurotsuchi-sama, Nemu-san."

The 12th division's captain just snorted and kept walking, but his much more polite lieutenant turned around and bowed slightly. "Farewell."

After both of them were gone, Gin turned to the human girl with a frown on his face. "What the hell's wrong with ya?"

Confused, Shi dropped her head a little to the side and looked at the silver-haired male blinking. "What do you mean?" Gin sighed and walked towards Shi's bedside, dropping his body on the chair and staring at the ceiling through his slitted eyes.

"Ya not only agreed ta be part of Kurotsuchi's experiments but ya're also happy about it." He turned his gaze to Shi with his trademark grin back on his face. "I jus' don't know if ya're naïve enough ta actually trust him or if ya're too dumb ta realiz' the danger."

Shi pouted. "I am not dumb Gin-san; I just do not think Kurotsuchi-sama will harm me. Not to mention that this is a great opportunity for me to find out what is wrong with my reiatsu."

"Ya do trust Kurotsuchi, so ya're that naïve, eh?"

Shi pouted like a child. "I am not naïve."

After hearing Shi's protest, Gin stared curiously at the girl for some seconds. The girl lying on the bed turned her gaze to the ceiling, trying to ignore Gin's curious eyes but, with a defeated sigh escaping her lips, she turned her orbs to the fox-like man sitting on the chair close to her bed. "Why are you staring at me like that, Gin-san?"

Gin shrugged his shoulders. "I was jus' tryin' ta imagine why ya talk lik' that."

Shi furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean? I talk like everyone."

Gin shook his head no. "No ya don't. Everyone uses _don't, didn't, I'm, you're,_ etc. But ya say _do not, did not, I am, you are_, etc. It's jus' weird."

"Really? I have never noticed this."

"See! Ya did it again; other people would've said _I've never noticed this_ but ya jus' said _I have never noticed this_."

The human girl chuckled. "You are right, Gin-san." Then Shi stopped chuckling and looked seriously to the silver-haired male. "Do you think I should stop speaking like this?"

Gin curiously at the girl. '_What the hell?' _Understanding the 3rd division's captain's confusion, Shi explained her question.

"I mean, since not many people talk like me, it may be a little annoying for others to hear me speaking; that is why I am asking you if you think that I should change the way a talk."

The silver-haired male started laughing again. '_Ya've got ta be kiddin' me! Ya don't wanna bother others even with yer manner of speakin'? Shi-chan, ya've got to stop bein' such a people-pleaser; it's bound ta become an annoyin' trait of yers.' _Shi waited the captain to stop laughing, observing him with a questioning gaze. After some moments, the silver-haired male stopped and turned to the girl, rubbing the tears from his closed eyes.

"Ya're so silly, Shi-chan! Of cours' ya shouldn't change the way ya speak; if it bothers others it's their problem, not yers." Shi opened her mouth, but Gin raised his hand to keep her from speaking and resumed talking. "Tak' me for example; I've talked like this my whole life and no one has ever complained about my manner of speech; and I'm pretty sur' that it's far mor' weirder than the way yers."

Shi chuckled lightly. "I guess you are right. Not to mention that I believe you are far more annoying to other people than I am-"

"Hey!"

"-so I think people would not hesitate in telling you that they find your accent annoying, if they really did."

"There ya go, problem solved."

"Yes, problem solved." Now it was Shi who looked at Gin with a curious expression. "Gin-san, do you know where is master?"

"I do, but I'll only tell if ya promise not ta freak out."

Shi's curiosity gave place to worry. "Why would I freak out, Gin-san? He is okay, right?"

"Don't worry yerself, Yume-chan's perfectly healthy."

Shi let a relieved sigh escape her lips and then raised an inquiring gaze to Gin. "So why did you think I would freak out?"

"Ya see, Yume-chan passed out earlier today." Gin noticed that Shi tensed at hearing his words. "Unohana - the 4th division's captain and the best physician here in Seireitei – already examined him, but she found nothin' wrong with him."

"So why did he pass out?"

Gin shrugged his shoulders. "Exhaustion."

Shi furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Exhaustion? From what?"

"From stayin' here in yer room ta watch over ya for two days straight."

Staring at Gin with wide eyes, Shi screamed in shock. "I SLEPT FOR TWO DAYS?"

To silence Shi, Gin quickly laid his right hand on her mouth, holding her head with his left one, what made him end up kneeling on the bed with one of his knees in-between the girl's stretched legs. The man's proximity made Shi's face turn ten shades of red, but the captain before her chose to ignore her blush; the young girl thanked God for that. _'At least he will not tease me about that… I think. I hope so. I will pray that he forgets about it. Oh well, I guess I better just brace myself for the time that he will use this to tease me, it is bound to happen.'_

"Don't ya scream lik' that or someone might hear ya." Shi nodded.

Satisfied, Gin released the girl and sat back on the chair besides her bed. No longer blushing, Shi whispered embarrassed. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

"Gin-san, do you know where master is? I really want to see him."

Gin shook his head apologetically. "I don't know, but I'm sure Unohana will tak' ya ta him as soon as he wakes up." Shi's face brightened at hearing Gin's words and the girl smiled thankfully to the man; he couldn't help but smile back. _'She's a nice girl; I think she'll provide me some good company durin' my last months here in the Seireitei, after all, __unfortunately,__ Rangiku's not free all the time I want ta do somethin' with someone and Izuru gets melancholic very easily.'_

Shi's happy expression turned into a curious one. "Gin-san, not meaning to be rude or anything, but why are you here?"

Gin answered with an easy-going voice, "Ta tak' care of ya, obviously." Frowning, the silver-haired man continued. "Though, it seems I've failed. Tell me, how could ya agree in lettin' Kurotsuchi experiment on ya? Worse than that, ya agreed in helpin' him out in his labs. Didn't Yume-chan tell ya anything about him?"

Shi bowed her head and started to fidget with her fingers. "Actually, master talked a lot about Kurotsuchi-sama."

"Then ya know that he'll try his best ta make ya let him do painfully and dangerous things to ya ta find out why yer reiatsu's different, right?."

"I know."

"Aren't ya afraid?"

Shi nodded, still keeping her head bowed. "I must admit that I am a little afraid of him, but I really want to find why my reiatsu is like that -" Shi raised her head and stared into Gin's eyes, showing that she was not going back on her decision. "- even if I have to risk my health for that."

Intrigued by Shi's desperate desire to find out more about her reiatsu, Gin asked. "Why do ya want that so badly? Why don't ya jus' wait for a more safe opportunity?"

Shi sighed and closed her eyes. "Gin-san, to explain that to you I would have to tell you almost my whole life history."

"I don't mind hearin' it."

Shi smiled apologetically at the man. "But I do not feel comfortable enough to tell you that yet, sorry Gin-san."

Gin shrugged as if he didn't really care about Shi's background, though the girl's denial just made him even more interested in finding out about her history. _'Too bad ya won't tell me more about yerself Shi-chan, I'm sur' it would've been a good story. But ya did say _yet, _so I guess I'll be able ta find out about it, I jus' need a little patience.' _

"I have one more question for ya, Shi-chan: Don't ya think ya'll feel bad in workin' with Kurotsuchi?"

Shi furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Why would I?"

"Don't ya know? Usin' people as guineas pigs on his possibly lethal experiments without their consent is somethin' quite common in Kurotsuchi's labs." Gin laid his right elbow on the chair's armrest and used his hand to support his cheek and looked at Shi with a neutral face; the absence of his trademark grin made the girl pay double-attention to the captain's words. "One time, he orchestrated the death of many of them jus' to have enough of them ta use as lab rats for his experiments." A clear reference to the Quincy incident.

Shi hummed with a blank look on her face, but, other than that, the girl kept herself quiet; Gin furrowed his eyebrows, finding the girl's silence weird.

"So, won't ya feel bad?"

Shi shook her head. "You see Gin-san, I know that the actions thatyou just described are a horrible thing, and I would never do anything like that." The girl bowed her head in shame, continuing with a low voice. "B-But I can not feel bad for helping Kurotsuchi-sama because of his cold personality… I know it is wrong and selfish, but I can not feel that much empathy for people I have never even met."

Gin dropped the hand that was supporting his cheek back on the chair armrest, dumb-folded by Shi's response. _'I didn't think this girl would be the selfish type, let alone admit bein' it.' _Not satisfied, Gin pressed the matter further.

"And if it was Yume-chan servin' as Kurotsuchi's lab rat?"

Shi raised her gaze to Gin dead-serious. "Then I would do anything to free master."

Gin nodded in understanding. _'At least she tak's care of the ones she cares about.'_

Shi sighed and dropped her head on the pillow, staring at the ceiling with blank eyes. "Please, do not think badly of me because of that Gin-san; I am not cruel and I do not approve Kurotsuchi-sama's methods, I just would not give up of working with someone as intelligent as him because of them. Not to mention that I doubt I could do something to change his ways."

Gin grinned down at the girl. "Relax, I won't think badly of ya jus' 'cause ya're a little apathetic, but that's a trait that ya shouldn't disclose as easily as ya jus' did; different from me, many people will condemn ya for it."

Sitting up once again, Shi smiled at Gin. "Noted. Thanks f-."

Shi ceased talking when she noticed Unohana walking in the room, smiling calmly. "Good. I see you're awake already, Shinsei-san."

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**Hope you enjoyed chapter 10!**

**Obs: **

**The term 'social contract' actually exists, I learned about it in my Sociology classes. This term refers to the adequate relationship between two or more people; this kind of relationship follows the society's common rules and attend to the individuals' own interests.**

**The occipital lobe is important to the visual perception of mammals.**

**Among other things, the frontal lobe allows an individual to recognize future consequences form his or her currents actions, allowing a person to make good or bad decision.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hello everyone! Sorry for taking so long to post this chapter... school has been keeping me quite busy. But don't worry, I'll keep updating, at least, once a month. ;)**

**Also, there's something I forgot to ask you on the last chapter: did I keep Kurotsuchi in chapter? I tried my best to do so, but I'm not that confident about my writing skills so a feedback would be nice. =)**

**Well, that's it. Hope you enjoy the chapter 11 of Lock!**

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-In Shi's room-

At hearing Unohana speak the name Shinsei, Gin looked questioningly at the girl he was holding down.

"Shinsei?" Questioned the fox-like captain.

Shi smiled sheepishly to Gin. "Master decided it would be better for us to use aliases here in Seireitei; he was Aoi Ryuu and I was Tenno Shinoka. Sorry about lying to you about my name, Gin-san."

Gin crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow skeptically. "And yer real name would be?"

Before Shi could open her mouth to speak, Unohana answered Gin's question while she walked towards the girl's direction. "Shinsei Shihi."

Gin moved a little to the back of the room, allowing the female captain to stand right in front of the chair that was by the girl's bed.

"Now tell me girl, how much time has passed since you woke up?" Asked Unohana.

"It has been about-" Before Shi could finish her phrase, she noticed Gin doing 'no' motions with his hands and head. The fox-like captain seemed a little desperate. '_What is wrong with him?' _Gin pointed to the 4th division's captain '_This woman…', _then he 'slit' his throat with his thumb '…_will kill…',_ then he pointed to himself '…_him. Ah! He does not want me to tell this woman – the 4__th__ division's captain, according to her haori - that I have been awake for quite some time now because she may not like it.' _

"Well?" Incquired Unohana.

Shi turned her gaze from Gin to the woman who was looking expectantly at her and smiled apologetically. "I am sorry, I lost focus. It has been about 5 or 10 minutes since I woke up." The silver-haired male sighed in relief.

Though Unohana knew that the girl had been awake for some time now, she decided to accept Shi's response. "Alright then. Well, I've come to check up on you to see if everything's okay, but I can see that you're already fully recovered."

Shi smiled energetically to Unohana. "Yes I have, ma'am."

The female captain chuckled. "Actually, there's one more thing: Yume-san should be waking up soon, would you like to go wait in his room?"

Shi's face lit up and she smiled gratefully to Unohana, nodding her head quickly. "I would like it very much. Thank you ma'am, I really appreciate it."

Unohana smiled kindly at the girl and helped her to get up. "Don't worry about it. Now, since you've been asleep for quite awhile, your legs may feel a little numb, but it'll pass after some minutes of walking."

Gin watched Unohana helping Shi tie her zanpakutou on her back with his usual grin, but his head was elsewhere. '_Gues' that I won't be able ta talk much mor' with the girl now, so I better get goin'. Mayb' Rangiku would be up for some drinks…'_

"Well, now that Shi-chan's in good hands I'll be leavin' ta tak' care of my own things."

Both women turned their eyes to the 3rd division's captain. Unohana smiled gratefully. "Alright, thank you for your help Ichimaru-taichou."

Shi smiled friendly and waved. "Bye, bye, Gin-san. I guess I will see you around, then."

Gin waved back to Shi. "Of cours' ya will." Then he turned around and walked out the room. "Bye, bye!"

-With Shi and Unohana-

Since Shi's legs were still weak, the 4th division's captain was supporting her on the way to Yume's room. The teenager had a worried look on her face. '_I hope master is alright. But what could cause him to pass out from exhaustion? It should not be something extremely serious or else Unohana-san would not act so calmly around me, but still…' _

"Unohana-san, if you do not mind me asking, did something happen to master?"

"You want to know if there was a specific occurrence that caused Yume-san to pass out." Stated Unohana. "Strangely, no. He spent the two days that you were unconscious sitting by your bed, waiting for you to wake up; I tried to persuade him into getting out of the room for a few hours a day, but he would always find arguments to stay."

Shi chuckled a little. "That sure looks like master."

Unohana smiled at the girl. "Indeed; Yume is as stubborn as a five-year old. But, earlier today, Aizen-taichou showed up to invite Yume-san to lunch, so, with someone to back me up and a little persuasion, I was able to make him go out for a few hours. When was time for Yume-san to come back, Aizen-taichou brought him here unconscious. He said he fell asleep after lunch and was not waking up." Unohona sighed. "Obviously, we also weren't able to wake him up. We examined him and tested his blood to see if there was any damage or unnatural substance in his body, but everything was just normal."

"I see… Well, I guess passing out of exhaustion is better than passing out of some kind of disease, right?" Said Shi with an easy-going voice.

The older woman stopped in front of a door and smiled down at Shi. "Of course. Oh! Before I forget-" Said Unohana slidding a hand into one of her shihakusho's sleeves. "-this must be yours."

Shi's eyes brightened when she saw Unohana retrieve a butterfly knife from inside her sleeve.

"Thank you vey much for taking care of it; I completely forgot about it."

"You're welcome. But tell me, why do you walk around with this… weapon?"

The girl put the knife away and shrugged her shoulders. "I guess you can say it is my luck charm."

The female captain nodded her head in understanding and opened the door to the Yume's room.

Yume was opening his eyes when both women came in so, since her maser was (almost) awake, Shi didn't waste a minute and ran to his bedside, questioning about his health. Unohana watched the girl kneel on the floor and lay her elbows on the former captain's bed while the redhead sat up slowly. '_Guess her legs are fine now.'_ Deciding she was no longer needed, the female captain excused herself and turned to leave the room.

Noticing the female captain's intention, the redhead laid his right hand on one of Shi's shoulders and squeezed it slightly as a sign for her to shut up.

"Thank you for taking good care of her, Retsu-san." Said Yume with a very respectful voice.

"Don't worry about it."

The redhead smirked. "I won't then. But after everything's sorted out you've got to let me take you out for dinner as a sign of my thanks." Spoke the redhead with a now easy-going and, odly, still respectful voice.

The female captain threw a smile over her shoulder. "Alright, then. But now you'll have to excuse me that I have paperwork to do. I shall stop by again to see how you're doing in a couple oh hours, Yume-san."

"I promise I'll be here."

After the female-captain left the room, Yume closed his eyes sighed with a content smile on his face. _'The human world is nice and all, but it's good to be back after almost 70 years.' _When he opened his eyes the redhead saw Shi looking to him with a smirk on her face, causing him to frown in annoyance.

"What?" Demanded Yume, already dreading Shi's response.

Shi widened her smirk. "You have got to let me take you out for dinner as a sign of my thanks, huh? I am sorry to say this master, but that was a lame excuse to ask Unohana-san out."

Blushing, the redhead glared at the girl and lightly elbowed her in the face. "I didn't ask her out dumbass; I respect her too much to do that. I simply wanted to thank her for taking care of my reckless protégé."

Holding her sore nose, Shi pouted mockingly. "So you do not have the courage to actually ask her out and is using me as an excuse to talk to her?" Yume tried to hit the girl again, but she dodged. Standing in the middle of the room, Shi shook her head with a fake disappointed expression. "I can not believe you, master… using a poor and innocent little girl to make Unohana-san go out with you. And hitting her afterwards! You should be ashamed of yourself!" The teenager girl raised her voice. "More than that, you should go after Unohana-san and actually invite her on a da-"

As soon as he realized what Shi was going to say, Yume used shunpo and ran to her side, laying his hand over her mouth. _'Must not kill the girl. Must not kill the girl. Must no-' _Yume's mantra was interrupted by Shi bitting his hand.

"OUCH!" Yume released Shi and looked to her indignantly. "You bit me! What the hell did you bite me for?"

The teenager smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. "Hehe… Sorry about that, but I could not waste a chance like that."

"You couldn't waste a chance to bite my hand?" Asked Yume in disbelief.

The girl nodded.

"Why would you want to… you know what; forget it. I don't want to know."

Mumbling about how his protégé was weird, Yume walked back to his bed and sat down on it. With a warm smile on her face, Shi watched her master set his pillow on the mattress so it would be more comfortable for him to lay his back on it. _'Thank God master is okay.' _Noticing that the girl hadn't moved, Yume moved his hand in a 'come here' manner. Shi's smile brightened as she obliged happily and sat besides the redhead with her zanpakutou on her lap.

"I am so happy to see you ok, master." Shi said softly as she laid her head on Yume's shoulder.

Yume allowed a soft smile to stretch across his lips. "Me too, I admit I was worried about what was going to happen to you in that fight with Gin." Looking down at the girl with a severe expression, the redhead continued with a scolding voice. "By the way, don't you EVER pick a fight as dangerous as that again, ok? Gin could've killed you!"

Shi cringed and looked down in embarrassment. "I am sorry for worrying you master, but I can not guarantee you that I will not pick a fight like that again." Raising her head, the young girl stared determined into Yume's orbs. "If fighting someone stronger than me is something necessary to protect you, I will not hesitate in doing it."

"Shi, listen to me; I can take care of myself so don't worry about me."

Shi shook her head stubbornly and raised herself from the bed, looking down at the now stunned redhead with imposing eyes. "No, you listen to me! I will not refrain from endangering myself to protect you, no matter what you say. You taught me yourself that a person should protect and care for his/her loved ones, even if it requires sacrifices from the person. And guess what? I love you!" Shi bowed her head to hide the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes.

_'Why am I crying? I have no reasons to do so...'_

Yume stood up and hugged the girl. "Don't cry, Shi. I guess I didn't express myself well... what I was trying to say is that you should take better care of yourself. It's perfectly fine to face danger to protect someone you love, but just don't do it unnecessarily, okay?"

Shi nodded, accidentaly grazing her nose Yume's clothes. Seeing this as an opportunity to lighten up the mood, the redhead said with a mocking voice. "Hey, don't dry your tears on my brand new shihakusho!"

The girl couldn't help but chuckle. "The least you can do is serve as a tissue for me."

Releasing Yume and taking a step back, Shi rubbed her eyes quickly and smiled up at her master. "I am sorry for my little break down, but I am okay now."

Messing with Shi's hair, Yume smiled back at her. "That's the Shi I know **and love**." Noticing the emphasis Yume put on the words "and love", Shi couldn't help herself and hugged the redhead again.

After a few moments, both sat back on the bed like before.

"Hey master, there is something I want to ask you. How did we get here without passing through the Dangai if we did not have a Hell Butterfly with us?" Asked Shi.

The redhead looked quizzically at her. "Who told you about the Dangai and Hell Butterflies?"

"Gin-san asked me this same question when we talked."

"I see. Well, we actually had a Hell Butterfly with us." The redhead grabbed his zanpakutou, that was laying on the wall besides his bed, and showed the tip of its sheath to Shi; there was a small Hell Butterfly encrusted in it. "See?"

The girl touched the unmoving insect, staring at it intently. "Since when do you have that, master? Is it supposed to stay still like that?"

"This is the Hell Butterfly that I took with me on my mission 70 years ago. It was able to fly, but I killed it and injected it with a substance that I stole from Kurotsuchi's lab to keep it conserved."

"Why did you kill it?"

"You see, the Seireitei is able to locate all of the Hell Butterflies when they're alive. So, if this one was still alive they could use it to find me when I didn't return from my mission. Hence I killed it and kept it conserved so I would be able to come back."

Shi seemed to be skeptical. "Really? The insect does not even need to be alive to allow someone to travel through the Senkaimon? Quite senseless if you ask me."

Yume smirked. "I didn't ask." Shi glared and pouted at him, making the redhead chuckle. "Just kidding, Shi. You're actually right, it's not a foolproof system, but with the Hell Butterfly dead you've got to know where you're going to, or else, passing through the Dangai or not, you may get lost on your way. That's why the Hell Butterflies are important to the Seireitei."

Shi nodded her head mechanically. "I see."

Shi moved her gaze from Yume to the unmoving insect. _'This Seireitei is not as safe as they make it seem... maybe, just maybe, I will find something in the Central 46 to tell Gin-san. The question is: should I tell him if I do?'_

-The next day-

Shi and Yume were standing in front of the gates of Central 46; behind them were the 1st and the 4th divisions' captains. The teenager did her best to keep a neutral face, but she was simply terrified. _'What if they sentence me to death? After everything master and I did… My God, what if they decide to punish master for bringing me here? What if…' _Yume laid his hand on the girl's shoulder, startling her. The girl raised her wide eyes to her master.

"Relax, Shi." The redhead smiled reassuringly to the girl. "Everything will be okay."

The iron bars that were locking the doors started moving. The girl grabbed her master's hand and nodded with a more confident look on her face. _'Master is right; I should not fear what is going to happen. Not to mention that I have to gather as much information as I can about Central 46, even if I am not sure if I will tell Gin-san about it or not. But I should not worry much about it; after all, if no one found a way in yet, what chances do I have?'_

Releasing Yume's hand, Shi started walking forward, but stopped when she noticed that no one was following her. The girl turned around, looking expectantly at her master, who smiled apologetically in return.

"Sorry Shi, but I can't go in with you." Said Yume.

Skeptical, Shi turned to Yamamoto and Unohana. "Are you serious? I can take Kokoro no Kagi with me but not master?"

Unohana decided to answer the girl. "We're not worried about your actions Shinsei-san, hence we're letting you keep the sword; not to mention that the Central wants to seize you up while you're carrying it. But Yume-san stays here."

The young girl felt fear grow back in her, but was able to control herself. Shi nodded in resign and started to make her way inside the building. _'Get a grip, Shi! You should have expected that; remember that Kokoro no Kagi said that the access to Central 46 was very restricted. I just have to keep myself calm and behave respectfully towards the judges and wise men.' _

Shi was now walking through a long corridor with many doors that unlocked themselves as she through them. _'How long is this corridor? And what is the use of so many doors? They do not seem to be very resistant…' _The teenager was looking around curiously, trying to take in as much details as possible, but the corridor was very dark, making it difficult for her to see things clearly. Well, the math is quite simple: Dark + Shi looking around = Shi falling face-first on the floor.

The girl raised herself from the floor rubbing her sore forehead. _'Damn, I should be watching the floor; it is not like the ceiling and walls are more interesting.' _

When the girl opened her eyes again, her gaze met the next and last pair of doors she had to go through. The two circular locks turned and the doors opened themselves, granting the girl access to a huge stairwell.

Shi walked through the doors, dropping her butterfly knife in the process; the girl sighed tiredly, turned around and bent down to pick up her luck charm. Raising herself, Shi watched the first pair of doors she had walked through start to close themselves. _'They open far faster than they close.' _The girl strained her eyes, seeing a little red light blinking on each and every pair of doors _'It seems that the doors are controlled by the use of infrared light.'_ When the last door closed, Shi was brought back to reality and turned around to start running down the stairs as fast as she could. _'Damn! I can not keep the judges and wise men waiting.'_

After descending the stairs, Shi entered a huge room with a minor one in its center. _'I guess they are in there.' _Legs trembling, Shi started taking deep breaths to calm herself.

'_**Don't worry child. If they were planning to kill you or Yume they wouldn't have called you here.' **_Came Kokoro no Kagi's soothing voice.

'_I __hope you are right.'_

-With Yume-

The redhead was lost in his thoughts, just walking around the Seireitei with a far-off look on his face, when his name was called by an overly cheerful voice that he recognized far too well. _'I can't believe this shit.'_

"YU-YUUUUUU!"

Yume stopped on his tracks and raised his arms slightly, as if he was carrying someone bride style. In a blink of eyes, a certain pink-haired lieutenant fell from the skies and into his arms.

"YU-YU! I missed you! Why didn't you show up to play with Ken-chan yet? He was waiting for you, you know?" The girl jumped on top of his head looking from side to side. "And where is your daughter? I was hoping you both would be together. Kei-chan's interested in fighting her too."

Yume grabbed the 11th division's lieutenant and took her off his head, holding her by under her arms in front of him, just like one would hold an infant.

"It's nice to see you too Yachiru-chan." Said Yume tiredly. "Sorry to disappoint you but Shi's not with me right now."

Yachiru dropped her head a little to the side. "Where is she?"

Putting the child-like lieutenant on his shoulders and resuming his walk, Yume answered the pink-haired girl with a distant voice. "She's in the Central 46."

Noticing how that particular subject was upsetting to the redhead, Yachiru quickly switched their chat's topic. "Let's go to 11th division, Yu-Yu! Ken-chan is dying to fight you!"

Yume tensed. "Y-You see Yachiru-chan, I was going to…eh…"

Before the former captain was even able to think up an excuse, Yachiru cut him off with a cheerful and loud voice. "You said just right Yu-Yu! You **were** going to... Now you **will** go to 11th division to fight Ken-chan! So turn around and run to my division!" Then, Yachiru's voice, though still cheerful, got a little soothing. "It'll be good for you, Yu-Yu. It'll make you forget your problems for a while."

Yume smiled and halted his movements. _'She's trying to help me relax a little. Well, after so much time without a decent fight, I guess there'll be no harm in paying a visit to Zaraki… besides the bruises and broken bones, of course.'_

"Why'd you stop Yu-Yu?"

"Hold tight Yachiru-chan, we're going to pay Zaraki a visit. After all, I did promise him a fight, didn't I?"

Yachiru took a strong grip on Yume's head. "YAY! Let's go!" That said, the redhead took off towards the 11th division's direction.

-With Shi-

Shi was now standing in the main room's center; the room's illumination was resumed to a beam of light that was casted over her. The girl was looking down shyly. "I am sorry for making you all wait for so long. I end up-"

A deep voice interrupted Shi. "We already know about your fall so there's no need for you to explain yourself, ryoka." The girl flinched at the man's acid tone. "Now, I hope you understand you're not here to chat with us."

Shi nodded.

"Also, we're not open to negotiations. This meeting will consist of us asking questions to you and, depending of your answers, we'll make a proposition to you. You'll have two choices then: accept it or die. Is that understood?"

The human girl raised her gaze, roaming her eyes around the room. _'I-I can not even see their faces. It is like I am not dealing with other people right now, but with machines.' _Setting her eyes on the tree highest chairs, Shi nodded her head._ 'They scare me but I will not let mine and master's efforts go to waste. I will leave this place alive and with Kokoro no Kagi in hand.'_

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**As always, review please. =)**


	13. Chapter 12

**Hi! Here's the chapter 12 of 'Lock'.**

**In this chapter we'll see how Shi and Yume met. I ****hope you enjoy it! =)**

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-With Gin (last night, after he left Shi's room)-

That night, the 3rd division's captain was enjoying himself in his division, drinking sake with his childhood friend. There were tons of empty bottles scattered everywhere._'I knew Rangiku wouldn't refuse some drinks.' _

"Tell me Rangiku, why was Shiro-chan screamin' at ya two days ago?" Asked Gin.

Rangiku was standing in front of the silver-haired captain with a half-empty bottle of sake in her hand; a little drunk, hence she was slurring her speech, but not as much as a normal person would be after drinking as much as she did. From all of the empty bottles in the room, only two were Gin's.

"He got really mad at me, c-cause, you see…" Slurred Rangiku. "A-After running up and down the whole division to make sure the intruders weren't there I-I stopped by Hitsugaya-taichou's office to r-report to him, but he wasn't there so I waited…" She took a large gulp from the bottle. "So what if I drank a little bit of sake and took a nap on the couch? I'd done my job, right? "

Chuckling, the silver-haired male nodded his head. "Right."

"When he came in and found me sleeping there he got reaaaally pissed, you know?" Then, Rangiku started to imitate Hitsugaya. "'MATSUMOTO! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? WE'RE UNDER INVASION, WAKE UP ALREADY!' and blah, blah, blah…'" Gin started chuckling harder at seeing his friend copying the small captain's antics.

"So he sent me to patrol the division AGAIN…" Continued Rangiku. "B-But I was with this massive headache, I don't know why though, maybe I was too tired of work…" The ginger-haired woman sat down besides her friend. "Anyways, I found an empty room and slept a little more…"

Matsumoto's eyes were closing at this point and she laid her head on Gin's shoulder, talking sleepily. "The next day, he found me sleeping in there and got even angrier than before a-and you… (YAWN)… you know the rest…"

Gin was finishing a cup of sake when the once-sleepy woman raised herself suddenly, making the fox-like male spill his drink on himself.

"Gin, I heard t-that you fought one of the ryoka three days ago! Was he strong? W-What happened to them after that?"

The silver-haired male examined his clothes sighing, but soon forgot about that. Turning to Matsumoto, who was looking expectantly to him, Gin recovered his grin.

"First: I didn't fight a 'he'; I fought a 'she'. Well, I've had much better fights; the girl's not very experienced when it comes ta usin' a sword." Gin then remembered Shi's last blow. "Though the little ryoka has a killer reiatsu; it's close to rivalin' my own." Matsumoto's eyes widened, making Gin chuckle. "Yeah, believ' it if ya can. So, after our little fight, the girl passed out and rested in the 4th division until today."

"And the other one?" Asked Rangiku eager.

"The other ryoka – her caretaker – kept himself by her bedside almos' the whole time she was asleep. Only at today's lunchtime the man got out of the girl's room, makin' me stay there ta look out for her for a couple of hours… And he end up passin' out, keepin' me there for the rest of the day."

Matsumoto laughed at that. "Y-You're joking right?"

"Not really, I had ta tak' care of the girl until she wok' up."

"Why did you h-have to stay with the girl? It's not like she was in danger or anything. R-Right?"

Gin poured Rangiku and himself another cup of sake and shook his head no. "Ya're wrong there. The girl's reiatsu wasn't jus' big, it was weird. And who do we know that jus' loooves ta intrude in other people busines' if somethin's not right?"

Raising the cup in the air, Rangiku smirked. "Kurotsuchi."

Gin touched his cup of sake with his friend's. "Bingo!"

Both took a sip of sake before Gin resumed talking. "Our favorite crazy scientist showed up there ta tak' a look at the girl. I was havin' my fun with him-"

"You mean annoying him to no end?"

"Ya may call that if ya want, but I prefer the term 'engaging in a heated discussion'. Anyways, we were havin' a nice talk but Shi-chan wok' up and put an end to that."

Matsumoto raised an eyebrow at Gin. "Shi-chan? The girl's n-name means four? R-Really?"

"I don't know if 'shi' is written with the kanji of four, but Shi-chan's jus' a nickname I gave her; her full name's Shinsei Shihi."

Gin continued, now with a sarcastic tone. "So, as I was sayin' before bein' so unkindly interrupted-" Matsumoto couldn't help but snort. "-Shi-chan wok' up and put an end to our chat, but ya won't believ' how."

The redhead poured herself another cup of sake. "Try me."

Gin waited for his friend to start drinking her sake to talk. "She agreed ta let Kurotsuchi experiment on her."

Shocked, Matsumoto choked on her drink and end up spitting all of it on her feet; the fox-like male didn't even try to hold his laughter. The woman turned to Gin with wide eyes.

"Y-You're shitting me right? Please, tell me it's a joke."

Recovering from his laughter, Gin shook his head no. "The girl was actually pretty excited with the idea of findin' out what's wrong with her reiatsu. I think she's a bit on the science-freak side."

Stunned, Rangiku dropped her weight on the couch's back support. "My G-God. This girl is nuts." The woman's shock soon gave place to curiosity, though. "Then what?"

"Then Mayu-chan took some blood out of Shi-chan and left the room." Spoke Gin nonchalant. "I stayed there a little more, talkin' with her until Unohana showed up ta tak' the girl ta her caretaker's room. Oh yeah! I didn't tell ya; her caretaker is Nishizono Yume. You remember him, right?"

The female lieutenant's eyes widened for the tenth time that day. "Nishizono Yume? The captain who died on the human world?"

"Not dead. He's still alive and kickin'."

Rangiku sighed and refilled her cup with sake. "I see. What w-will become of them?"

The captain shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really know… nothin' was mentioned regardin' Yume-chan, but the girl mus' be goin' ta Central 46 tomorrow mornin'."

The redhead turned her wide eyes to Gin, but they soon returned to their original state. "I-I don't know if the girl being send to Central 46 doesn't shock me as much as it should 'cause I drank too much or 'cause you already exceeded my s-shock limit for the day."

Gin raised an eyebrow. "Shock limit?"

"You know… my c-capacity to get shocked with things." Rangiku finished her drink and laid her head on the couch's armrest. "You don't mind me c-crashing here right?"

The silver-haired male smiled at his childhood friend, though she wasn't able to see it. "Did I ever?"

-With Shi-

A cold voice came from one of the three judges. "Now, introduce yourself girl. Age, name, living location and occupation"

"My name is Shinsei Shihi and I am 15 years old, sir. I live with my caretaker Nishizono Yume in Rome, Italy and am currently studying in a college there."

"And how did you meet Nishizono Yume?"

At hearing this question, Shi's eyes glazed and she lost herself in her memories.

-Flashback-

It was a warm night of July; 11 years-old Shi and a young man were walking around the extremely wide backyard of the mansion in Rome, they were quite far from the building though.

At the time, Shi's hair was cut short, in a messy way that showed that the one who trimmed it didn't put much effort in doing a good job. The male walking with her was 24 years-old; he was not very tall (his height was of 175cm), but his face was very beautiful and his gray eyes matched perfectly with his blonde hair; different from Shi, who held an average beauty, the blonde man was simply dashing.

But what really caught the attention was the sad look on their faces.

The young man smiled down to the girl, though the action didn't reach his eyes. "Don't be sad like that, Shi. It really don't suit ya."

The girl tried to smile reassuringly at her companion, but failed miserably; feeling tears build up in her eyes, Shi ran until she was a few meters away from the man. Sighing, the blonde ran after her and stopped at her side, waiting quietly until she was ready to speak. Shi spent a couple of minutes rubbing the tears off her eyes and trying to get a hold of herself while the blonde stared at the moon with a longing gaze. After the young girl was sure that no more tears were coming, she raised her head and, this time, she was able to give a forced but real smile to her friend. "Sorry, Victor. I know it has passed a month since he died but I can not help it. Do not worry though, I will be fine"

The man, Victor, smiled down at the girl and ruffled her hair, letting his hand remain on the top of the girl's head. Both turned their gazes to the full moon that was illuminating the sky.

Suddenly, Shi felt a very familiar headache coming. _'What do you want now?'_

'_**Why are you sad? You should be jumping of joy now that that guy's dead. You did try to run away from him, remember?'**_Answered a voice in her head; it wasn't possible to determine if the voice was masculine or feminine due to its childish tone.

'_Yes, but I did not want him to die.'_

'_**Don't be ridiculous, he deserved it. Now there**__**'s one less psycho/sociopath, crazy, manipulative son of a bitch in the world.**__' _Spat the voice.

'_Do not talk about hi__m like that! He was nothing like that.'_

'_**Yes he was and you know it.'**_

'_I-It is not true. Sure he had some issues, b-_

The girl's thoughts were cut. _**'Shut up for a second, I think I'm sensing something. It feels like-**__**' **_Out of nowhere, came a loud and terrifying howl. _**'-that thing who killed the bastard.'**_ A Hollow appeared on the sky, some yards away from them.

Eyes wide, Shi and Victor looked at each other for a few moments, both were thinking the same thing. _'It can't be that thing again!'_

'_**Yes it can, so start running, damn it!'**_

Victor was the first one to move, grabbing Shi's hand and running across the backyard; when he looked back he saw the Hollow start running after them. The monster was using a big and white samurai-like mask, its arms and legs were long and thin, giving it a spider-like appearance, and there was a hole on its torso's center. But what really caught his attention were the creature's fingers; they were long and on their ends were thick blood-red nails that seemed able to cut steel. _'Fuck! I never thought that this thing would come back!'_

Shi was struggling to run as fast as Victor, but her small legs didn't help much. Noticing this, the blonde picked up the young girl, carrying her like an infant to speed up the pace, but even with the high concentration of adrenaline in his blood vessels, he knew that he wouldn't be able to outrun the Hollow that was after them.

Building up the little courage she had, Shi stole a glance at the monster that was chasing them. Needless to say, she regretted the action almost instantly. The girl's body was trembling in fear as she watched the Hollow approach them, unable to move her wide eyes from the spider-like creature. _'That is it, we are going to die.'_

'_**Don't give up so fast, there's something you can do.'**_

'_What?' _Demanded Shi desperate.

'_**Release all of your energy at once, it'll result in a small explosion that may be able to eliminate that thing.'**_

'_**May**__ be able?' Asked Shi._

'_**It's not an exact science, ok?'**_ The voice shot back. _**'I've never done this before, but it's your only chance of getting away from that monster.'**_

'_Ok, ok.'_ Shi quickly agreed to the voice as the Hollow was getting closer to them._ 'But what about Victor?'_

'_**I don't think your energy is very dangerous to humans, so the**__** blast may not hurt him much.'**_

'_You do not __**think**__? The blast __**may **__not hurt him much?'_

The Hollow was even closer now.

'_**I already said it's not an exact science! Now, focus yourself to release all of your energy, not part of it.'**_

'_How?' _Asked Shi in despair.

'_**You always complain that my presence in you makes your body feels heavy and that my voice gives you headaches, don't you?**__' _Shi mentally nodded. _**'And, because of that you try to keep me locked in a corner inside of you. I just want you to relax and stop fighting my presence in you; I'll do the rest.'**_

She hesitated a little. _'Can I trust you?'_

'_**Do you have another choice?'**_

'_I guess not.' _Said Shi resigned. _'When should I relax?'_

Now, the Hollow was just a few feet away from him. _**'Wait.'**_ The monster got closer. _**'Wait.'**_ He was stretching its thin arm to grab them. _**'Wait.'**_ Its fingers touched Victor's back. _**'Now!'**_

Following the voice's instructions, Shi relaxed her body and mind. As for the voice, now that it wasn't facing Shi's resistance, it was able to make the girl's reiatsu break free from her all at once, powerfully going to all of directions. The blast threw Victor and the Hollow away from Shi, the only difference was that the young man was pushed just a few feet back, without much damag,e while the monster ended up knocked out, some yards away from them.

Shi was left kneeled on the ground, panting hard. _'I-It worked!'_

'_**I told you so. Hey, are you okay?'**_

Shi closed her eyes. _'Y-Yes; just a little tired.' _

A few feet away from Shi, Victor was sitting on the ground, taking a few deserved seconds to assimilate what had just happened. _'The hell? Shi did that?' _The blonde raised himself off the ground as he scanned his surroundings to locate Shi. Victor couldn't help but wobble a little before finding his balance and walking towards the kneeled girl.

Victor kneeled besides Shi, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Shi, ya're okay?"

Shi smiled, but kept her head bowed and her eyes close. "Y-Yes, and you Victor? I hope I d-did not hurt you with that."

"I'm okay. But what was t-"

Before Victor was able to finish his phrase, Shi passed out, dropping her weight on the blonde's upper-body. A small smile stretched on his lips. _'That blast must've tired her out, whatever the hell it was.'_

Victor stood up with the girl in his arms and started walking towards the mansion that was a few yards away.

"WHERE DOU YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?" Demanded the monster's loud and sinister voice.

Victor halted his movements and his blood ran cold. Slowly, the blonde turned his body around, unconsciously tightening his grip on the girl in his arms. The Hollow was back on its feet and just a few meters away from him; though its face was covered by a mask, Victor could swear that the monster was smirking at him.

"YOU DIDN'T THINK I'D DIE WITH THAT, DID YOU?" Asked the Hollow

Victor didn't reply.

"BY YOUR FACE, I CAN SEE THAT THAT BLAST WAS YOUR ONLY DEFENSE, RIGHT?" Stated the Hollow walking towards blonde that was frozen in fear. "ANY LAST WORDS?"

Yume's confident voice came from behind the creature. "Actually, yes: lead the way Himichi!"

Victor's eyes widened in surprise as he watched a big Fuuma Shuriken fly towards the Hollow, cutting the monter's left arm off and returning to its owner, who was standing right behind the monster. The creature cried in pain, turning his head to glare at the red haired newcomer; the man had two Fuuma Shuriken in his hands and was smirking arrogantly at the Hollow.

"That was easy; I guess I over-estimated you." The redhead's Fuuma Shuriken turned into a simple katana. "Come; I'll eliminate you without even using my shikai."

"HOW DARE YA? FINE, I'LL KILL YA FIRST, THEN I'LL TAKE CARE OF THOSE TWO!"

The man's smirk widened and he laid his hand on the zanpakutou's hilt, getting in his fighting stance. "I'd love to see you try."

Crying in rage, the Hollow charged atthe redhead with his now only arm raised in the air, ready to slit anything on his way. The man waited until his adversary was right in front of him to unsheathe his sword, cutting the creature's other arm off; the action was so quick that Victor only realized that the man had moved after he saw the amputated limb falling on the ground.

Right at that moment, Shi woke up, soon noticing Yume's presence. The young girl looked up at the blonde questioningly. "Victor, what is happening here?"

The blonde jumped at hearing Shi's voice.

"The hell?" He exclaimed in fright. "Don't do that, Shi! Ya almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry." Apologized the girl. "But what is happening? Who is that redhead?"

Victor put the girl on her feet and turned his gaze to the man who was exchanging blows with the Hollow. "I think the man is fighting to protect us, but I don't know who the hell he is."

With wide eyes, both younglings watched Yume slice the Hollow's torso, making the monster stumble back and fall on his back. The redhead walked towards the creature, his arrogant expression morphing to one of pity.

"Don't worry; everything will be over soon." The man raised his blade and cut the Hollow's head off in a swift motion.

Victor watched the monster fade away in awe. _'What the hell just happened here?'_

Sheathing his zanpakutou, Yume started to walk towards the two younglings he saved with an easy-going smile on his face. "Are you both okay? I hope that Hollow didn't hurt you."

Victor was the first one to recover from the shock, so he decided to answer the man on behalf of Shi and himself. "We're okay; that thing wasn't able to cause much damage, at least not on my body. I'm pretty sure I'll need to start a long therapy treatment though…"

The older man chuckled. "I'm sure you'll be fine." Then he lowered his gaze to the girl who was staring at him with curious and confused eyes. "I'm more concerned about the child; what happened to her earlier?"

The blonde's eyes narrowed and he pushed Shi behind him. "What do ya mean?"

The redhead stared the blonde seriously. "You know exactly what I mean; what this girl did earlier wasn't normal, it wasn't human." Shi flinched at the man's last comment.

Victor glared at the redhead. "Fuck ya! Who the hell do ya think ya are to tell her what's normal or not?"

A weak voice came from behind the blonde. "H-He is right Victor, there is something wrong with me."

Turning to the girl, Victor kneeled on the ground and held her shoulders softly. "Ya listen to me; there's nothing wrong with ya, okay? In fact, if it wasn't for ya we'd be dead right now." Then he turned his eyes to the redhead to glare at him. "Don't listen to this idiot."

The man sighed exasperated. _'This boy sure knows how to thank someone for saving his life, doesn't he?'_

"This idiot saved your lives in case you've forgotten." Spat Yume.

Eyes still on the ground, Shi murmured to her friend. "He is right, Victor."

Victor sighed and softened his glare. "Alright. Thank ya for that… eh…"

"Nishizono Yume."

"Thank you for saving our lives, Mr. Nishizono. Now, if ya excuse us, we better get going." The blonde raised himself, grabbed Shi's hand and started to make his way to the Hotel.

Yume called out to them. "Wait." Shi and Victor turned to gaze at the redhead; the girl's stare was curious while the man's was simply annoyed.

"I didn't mean to upset the girl with that comment." Spoke Yume softly.

The blonde snorted. "Yeah, who the hell would've imagined that telling an 11 year-old girl that she's not human would upset her?"

"I'm sorry, okay?" Yume shot back. "But I really didn't mean it like that; I just wanted to say that there's something different with her, that's all." The redhead turned his eyes to the girl. "Would forgive me, little one?" Victor rolled his eyes as Shi timidly nodded to the man.

Yume smiled at her. "Thank you."

The younger man sighed. "Now that ya're forgiven, could we leave? We're pretty tired after everything." Shi nodded her head in agreement.

Yume turned his eyes to the blonde. "I understand that, but I really need to talk to you both about what happened earlier; you may still be in danger."

"What the hell do ya mean?" Demanded Victor.

The redhead sighed. "It's actually a pretty long story; I think we should have this conversation tomorrow, after you both have a good night of sleep. You both live in that mansion, right?" Asked Yume pointing to the building. "I'll drop by first thing in the morning if you want."

Victor hesitated a little. _'This guy is far too weird for my liking. But he did save our lives; and he seems to know what's going on around here.' _Looking down at Shi, who was staring at him expectantly, the blonde made his decision. _'Shi is curious about what happened to her too… I guess that we have no choice.'_

"No need for that, you can spend the night, Mr. Nishizono."

Yume's eyes widened slightly at the offer. "Thank you, that's kind of you."

Before they started walking, Yume smiled down at the girl who was hiding behind Victor. "What's your name, little one?"

"M-My name is Shihi, sir." The girl answered timidly. "A-And thank you for saving our lives, sir."

"You're very welcome."

The girl smiled slightly and pulled on Victor's shirt. "Introduce yourself Victor; it is the polite thing to do."

The blonde rolled his eyes. "The name's Victor Crawford, it's a pleasure to meet ya, Mr. Nishizono."

The redhead nodded his head. "It's nice to meet you too, Victor-san."

-End of flashback-

* * *

**Sorry for making another OC appear when I haven't even disclosed Shi and Yume's background, but it can't be helped. Eventually, all of my OCs' background will be disclosed, just have a little patience, please. 0.0**

**Besides that, was the chapter good?**

**Obs: the mansion mentioned is the same one of the prologue.**


	14. Chapter 13

**Hello! =)**

**Before the chapter, I'd like to thank all of the new favorites. *.* **

**This chapter was a bit hard for me to write, because I don't really know how the judges and wise men behave... ****but, I still ****hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

**Now, let's get Shi out of her flashback. ;)**

* * *

-With Shi-

"Girl. Girl!"

Shi was taken back of her trance and quickly raised her eyes to the direction the voice had come from. The girl stared expectantly at a wooden plaque with a number 30 carved on it that was in front of one of the wise man's face.

Noticing that the girl had forgotten what was asked of her, the man behind the plaque sighed, but decided to enlighten her anyway. "You were about to tell us how you've met Nishizono Yume."

The girl blushed in embarrassment and looked down. _'__Stupid! __How __could __you __have __a __flashback __in __a __time __like __this?__' _

"I-I am really sorry, sir. I did not mean to make you wait, again. I was just remembering the day master and I met."

"And how was it?" The judge that was in the middle asked/demanded.

The girl turned her head to the judges to answer. "About four years ago, I and a friend of mine were talking on our home's garden when a Hollow appeared out of nowhere and attacked us…" _'__I __can __not __tell __them __what __happened __to __me __then; __I __will __just __omit __it __and __pray __that __they __do __not make many questions__.__' _"Master appeared then and saved us. A couple of weeks after that, master moved in with us."

"Just like that?" The judge asked skeptically. "What about your family? I find it difficult to believe that your parents would allow their daughter, just a child, to live with an unknown man."

Shi blushed and looked down once again, fidgeting her fingers. "You see sir; I-I do not know my parents. At that time, I was living with the friend I talked about earlier; he was 24 years old then."

"I see. You still live with him in the Human world?"

The girl stopped fidgeting and her eyes saddened. "No, sir. He died last year."

"How did he die?"

"Last year, master allowed us to go by ourselves on two-days trip to watch a concert in Milan... he got a little too drunk." Shi began with a sad voice. " We were walking towards the train station when he, out of nowhere, set off running." At that point, the girl's voice was trembling a little and tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. "I-I tried to grab him, but failed; a bus ran over him."

_'Damn, do not cry! You are not that weak, Shi!'_

**_'It's okay, child. No need for you to be ashamed.' _**Kokoro no Kagi spoke softly.

The middle judge sighed in disdain at the girl before him. _'__I __can__'__t __believe __the __reiatsu __from __three __days __ago __belonged __to __this __crybaby.__Honestly, __the __girl __can__'__t __even __remember __her __friend, __who __died __a __year __ago,__without __crying.__'_

Taking that the judge had finished his interrogatory, the wise man number 23 decided to change the subject. "Ryoka, can you prove that you were accepted by the zanpakutou that's on your back."

Rubbing the tears off her eyes and controlling herself once again, Shi nodded her head.

_**'**__**Guess **__**it**__**'**__**s **__**my **__**time **__**to **__**shine, **__**huh? **__**Remember **__**what **__**I**__**'**__**m **__**going **__**to **__**do?**__**' **_Asked the zanpakutou.

'_Yes; you will allow some of my reiatsu go back to its original state then purify it again.'_

Eyes blank, Shi unsheathed her zanpakutou and stuck it on the ground. Raising her left hand before her, Shi concentrated some of her reiatsu on her palm, making a small and black ball of energy appear; it had a morbid aura that intrigued the judges and wise men.

"You see, before I had Kokoro no Kagi my reiatsu was like this and I was not able to control it well without having a great part of it sealed... actually, even then I have some problems." Shi said and grabbed the sword once again, making her reiatsu turn white and normal. "But, as you can see, Kokoro no Kagi is purifying my reiatsu to help me to keep it under control." The girl reabsorbed her reiatsu and sighed, looking up to the judges with blank eyes. "Is this proof enough for you, sir?"

"Yes; I guess it'll do."

After some moments of an uncomfortable silence, Shi spoke. "So, what is going to happen to me?"

"You have two choices." Began the judge from the right. "You can offer your services to the Soul Society and work as a shinigami or die."

Shi gulped. _'__He __makes __saying __something __like __that __seems __something __so __usual__…'_

"I-I will take the first option, sir."

"We imagined you would." The middle judge spoke. Shi's blank eyes narrowed at hearing the man's mocking tone, but she said nothing... at least, not outside her head.

"Your training starts tomorrow." The judge on the left settled.

"Yes, s-. MY WHAT?" Shi exclaimed in shock after registering what the judge had said.

"We advise you to watch your tone, ryoka." The middle judge spat out.

Shi took a deep breath to calm herself. "I am sorry about my behavior, sir." The girl said respectfully. "But what do you mean by my training starts tomorrow?"

"Sure you didn't believe that we would allow you to become a shinigami with the poor skills you have." The judge on the left spoke condescently.

"B-But, sir! I was able to take on Gin-san some days ago, and he is one of your captains!" Shi argued desperate. "Not to mention that I was well trained by master!"

"Once again, watch your tone girl." Warned the judge on the right. "And you weren't able to fight as a equal with Ichimaru; he didn't even had to try to push you to your limit and make you pass out of exhaustion."

Shi bit her lower lip, trying to find another argument. "And what about the guards that were guarding the deposit, sir? I took one of them out too."

"Please; they weren't even ranked shinigami." The middle judge spoke mockingly. "And, of course, that taking the man by surprise had nothing to do with you being able to knock him out."

At hearing that, a blush made its way on Shi's cheeks. "How do y-"

"Did you really think that we would call you here without knowing everything that you and Nishizono did here in Seireitei?" Asked the judge on the right.

Shi kept silence.

"Face it girl; you may have something different inside you, but you're not nearly as special as you think." The judge on the left said.

Shi's eyes moved from the judges to the ground in defeat. _'__He __is __right__… __I __did __nothing __big __here; __master __was __the __one __who __took __care __of __everything __while __I __was __wasting my time __having __dinner __with __Gin-san__…'_

Shi sighed, rasing her gaze to the judges with a resigned expression on her face. _'Might as well try to assure some of my rights here...'_

"You are right sir, but I have a live in the Human World too." Shi said.

"We are conscious of how things work there, girl. How long do you have before your classes begin?" The judge on the right asked.

"Right now, I have no problems in staying here because my summer vacations started in July - a week ago - but I have to return to school before September starts, so I will have to be back to the Human World in about seven weeks. Also, what is going to happen to master?"

"Nishizono Yume isn't considered a shinigami anymore, thus he can't come back to the Seireitei; the man will have to return to his live in the Human World as soon as possible." The judge on the left said mechanically. "Now, about yourself: you'll spend the next six weeks here, then you can return to the Human World and continue your studies there. The only difference in your routine in the future is that you'll have to spend the weekends and holidays training here; that's our only offer. Do you accept it?"

The young girl spent some moments quiet, before answering with a hesitant voice. "I-I accept."

* * *

-In 11th division-

Yume and Zaraki were fighting each other on the 11th division's training fields. Like the 3rd division's training grounds, it was a simple open space; the only difference was that the area of the 11th division was wider than the 3rd's, what allowed more people to train at the same time, though, at that exact moment, only Yume and Zaraki were fighting. Yachiru, Ikkaku and Yumichika were sitting on a close porch to watch the fight.

"Go Ken-chan! Go Yu-Yu!" Yachiru yelled happily.

Yume was holding Kenpachi's sword with his own zanpakutou. "What the hell, Yachiru-chan? You can't cheer for both of us, choose one!"

"Shut up and keep your head in the fight Yume." Kenpachi said and smiled sadistically, pushing his zanpakutou harder. "Or else you may lose it."

Giving his zanpakutou a final boost, the 11th division's captain pushed the redhead a few feet back and started pounding him repeatedly from many different angles. Grounding his teeth, Yume defended each and every blow, though he wasn't able to keep his stance and had to take some steps back.

_'__Damn, __Kenpachi __sure __got __stronger__… __But __there__'__s __no __way __in __hell __I__'__m __letting __him __push __me __around __like __a __punching __dummy!__' _Using his speed and smaller body to his advantage, the former captain bent down to dodge one of Kenpachi's blows, rolling under the shinigami's legs and roundhouse kicking him a few feet back.

The spectators were stunned and silent… Except Yachiru, of course.

"Hahahahaha! Yu-Yu rolled under Ken-chan's legs! That was so funny, neh Baldy?"

A vein started pulsing on Ikkaku's forehead. "I'm not bald; I shave! So stop calling me that!"

Yachiru narrowed her eyes at him and put her index finger in front of her mouth in a shushing manner. "Keep quiet, Cueball! I wanna pay attention to the fight!"

Fuming, Ikkaku pointed at the 11th division's lieutenant. "You started it!" Yachiru completely ignored him and kept watching the fight.

Angry, the bald man turned to Yumichika. "Can you believe her? Ignoring me like that…"

The black-haired male turned his head from the fight to his friend with a blank look on his face. "Huh? Did you say something?" At hearing that, the 3rd seat couldn't help but fall on the ground face-first.

Yumichika just shrugged his shoulders and went back to watching the fight.

* * *

-With Shi-

The human girl had just got out of Central 46 with a sad expression on her face. Noticing that no one was waiting for her, Shi sighed and started to walk around the Seireitei. _'__Kokoro __no __Kagi, __could __you __help __me __find __my __way __around __here, __please?__'_

'_**Sure thing, child. Where to?'**_

'_The judge said that I have to report to Yamamaoto-soutaichou, so I guess we should go to the 1st division.'_

'_**That shall be fast; just keep walking this way that I'll tell you when to turn.'**_

'_Ok… Tell me Kokoro no Kagi, when you installed yourself in my inner world, was anyone there already?'_

The zanpakutou kept silent for some moments before answering the girl. _**'**__**Yes.**__**'**_

'_Where is he now?'_

'_**He's still there, child; he just can't contact you as he pleases now. Turn right.'**_

Making the turn, Shi's eyes widened in realization. _'__So __that __is __the __reason __master __wanted __me __to __get __you __as __my __zanpakutou! __You __are __able __to __stop __him __from __interacting __with __me, and that keeps my reiatsu under control.__'_

'_**You're correct; I'm able to purify your reiatsu and that reduces the amount of energy he has, weakening his power over you.'**_

Shi acquired a troubled expression. _'__So __he __is __not __able __to __contact __me __anymore__… __But __I can still __talk to __him,__right?__'_

Kokoro no Kagi didn't answer, so Shi pressed the matter further. _'__Please, __answer __me. __Can __I __still __talk __to __him?__'_

Shi could swear she heard the zanpakutou sigh in exasperation. _**'**__**You **__**can. **__**But **__**why **__**would **__**you?**__**'**_

The girl shrugged. _'I know he can get really annoying and that he has a sense of humor that is a little... well, mean.__ But he has always been with me and he always tried to __help __me __in __everything __I __needed, even though he ended up making things worse. __I __can __not __just __abandon __him __in __a __corner __of __my __mind. __Can __you __understand __what __I __am __saying?__'_

'_**Turn left now. Unfortunately, I do understand. Do you wish to speak to him now?'**_

Shi was the one who kept quiet this time. After a couple of minutes, the girl answered. _'__No, __not __right __now. __I __would __like __to __wait __until __I __am __by __myself; __maybe __tonight __before __I __go __to __sleep__…' _

'_**Alright. But I must say that I think you shouldn't contact that annoying creature. Ever.'**_

'_I __can __not __help __it; __I __love __that __bastard, __no __matter __how __annoying __he __is...__' _Shi said, unable to keep a the smile from her face.

_**'I also have something to ask of you, child.' **_Kokoro no Kagi said.

_'Name it.'_

**_'Would you tell me more about that man from your past?'_**

_'You mean Victor?' _Shi's smile soon vanquished and she turned her sad gaze to the ground. '_Well, I will tell you about him sooner or later anyway. Do you mind waiting until tonight?'_

**_'Of course not, child. Now, raise your eyes; we're in the 1st division.'_**

Raising her eyes, Shi came face-to-face with a big 'one' kanji on the wall before her.

* * *

-In Yamamoto's office-

The 1st division captain was standing by his window, observing the actions of his division's shinigami. Noticing the human girl walking towards his division, Yamamoto couldn't help but sigh tiredly. _'__So __the __Central__'__s __going __to __use __this __ryoka__'__s __powers __and __make __her __work __as __a __shinigami. __Guess __I__'__ll __have __to __direct __the __girl __to __a __suitable __division __then__… __But __which __one? __The __shinigami __already __come __from __the __Academy __with an idea of __where __they __want __to __work, __while __this __girl __doesn__'__t __know __anything __about __each __division__'__s __components __or __its __routine.__'_

Yamamoto watched one of his unranked shinigami greet the girl; they exchanged a few words, then the shinigami pointed towards the building. The girl bowed slightly to the shinigami and walked in the 1st division's quarters. The old captain sat at his desk and waited for his lieutenant to announce the girl's arrival. After a couple of minutes there was a knock on the door.

"Yamamoto-soutaichou, the ryoka Shinsei Shihi wishes to speak with you; she says that she was sent here by the Central 46."

"Send her in, Sasakibe." Yamamoto said tiredly.

The door was opened by the 1st division lieutenant and Shi entered the office slowly. Yamamoto waited until his lieutenant had left the room and closed the door to start speaking.

"Take a sit girl." Shi quickly sat down on the couch that was in front of the captain's desk and stared at him with attentive eyes. "Now, you'll be working as a shinigami, am I correct?" Shi nodded. "But we'll have to train you first…" The girl nodded again. "How long will you be staying here before you have to return to the Human World?"

"I will remain here for six weeks, sir; then I'll return every weekend and holidays." Shi answered almost mechanically.

Yamamoto closed his eyes and kept quiet for some moments; Shi waited for him to think up what actions should be taken. _'__Will __he __send __me __to __the __Shinigami __Academy __or __will __I __be __placed __in __a __squad?__' _

"Listen carefully, Shinsei. In these six weeks you will try out all of the Gotei 13's divisions; you'll spend three days in each division to be trained as a shinigami. After that, I'll ask if any of the captains accepts you participating in their squad's training; if none of them do, something I find highly unlikely, you'll be trained to become a shinigami in my division."

Trying not to sound arrogant, Shi asked. "What if two or more of your captains want me in their squads?"

"Then we'll choose the most adequate one to train you. In this case, I think it would be okay for you to choose more than one division, but be wise; if you end up being trained by more than one squad you'll surely have more work to do, though your progress will be quite bigger."

Shi stared contemplative at the floor. "I see…"

"You have until the day after tomorrow until we begin the try-outs; you'll begin by my division, then go to the 2nd, the 3rd, the 4th, and so on. After you've trained enough, you'll work as a shinigami replacement in the Human World and won't need to return here for training anymore, though the captains may demand your presence here if they find the need for it."

The girl raised her gaze to the captain before her. "Understood, sir."

"Later today I'll send a Hell Butterfly to contact you about a meeting that I'll arrange with the other captains. Yume did tell you about the Hell Butterflies right?"

Shi nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good." Yamamoto said finally. "Then everything's settled for now; you're free to walk around the Seireitei until I contact you again, just don't cause any trouble."

The girl raised herself and bowed to Yamamoto. "Thank you, sir." Shi walked towards the door, but, before opening it, she turned to the captain-commander. "I forgot to ask you, sir. Do you know where master is?"

The old captain shook his head. "No, but if I were you I'd look in the 4th, 5th and 11th divisions first."

Shi bowed her head again in appreciation. "Thank you, sir; I shall look for him in these places right away. Bye, bye."

The girl turned around and scurried out of the room, walking towards the 4th division with a smirk on her face. _'__Master, __you __dog! __I __bet __you __are __drinking __with __Unohana-san __right __now __as__ "__a __sign __of __appreciation __for __taking __care __of __me__"__. __Pfff, __as __if __anyone __would __believe __that.__'_

After he was alone, Yamamoto dropped all his weight on his chair's support, not even trying to suppress the tired sigh the came from his lips. "More work for me to do…"

* * *

**Well, hope you enjoyed it. =)**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated.**


	15. Chapter 14

**Hello there! Well, here's chapter 14; hope you all enjoy it. =D**

**But, before that, I have a question to you all. Would you like if I wrote a special chapter about one of the ****Chirstmas that ****Shi, Yume and Victor spent together? **

**I'll set a poll about this in my profile page. Please, answer it.**

**Also, I began writing a fic about Kuroshitsuji. If anyone likes it, check it out. =)**

* * *

-In 11th division-

Yume and Zaraki were still fighting each other, but, though the fight was doing wonders in entertaining both males, the small audience had lost its interest in the combat after its first 30 minutes. Ikkaku was taking a nap by the 11th division's lieutenant's side and Yumichika had left the place to take care of his responsibilities as the 11th division's 5th seat; after all, at least one of the ranked shinigami in Zaraki's division had to do something to keep it running. Yachiru was the only one still watching the fight with attentive eyes.

Why the fight didn't interest its spectators anymore? Even though Zaraki and Yume were fighting pretty hard (Yume even had to use his zanpakutou's shikai), they weren't going at each other throats with the intention to kill, and that was the biggest joy-killer for the 11th division. Zaraki and Yume chose not to use their reiatsu much, so the fight resumed to a non-stop exchange of blows.

Yume already had a split lip, a purple eye and many bruises on his arms from defending Zarakis forceful blows. Zaraki's state wasn't any better, the battle-loving male had his torso covered by cuts from the redhead's zanpakutou, ranging from small to long slits. The biggest difference between both fighters was their attitude: while Yume was frowning, obviously tired from fighting, Zaraki's sadistic grin seemed to grow by each minute that passed.

Dodging a blow from Zaraki and jumping, Yume decided to try convincing his opponent to stop the fight. _'__I __don__'__t __think __he__'__ll __listen __to __me , __but __hope __is __the __last __one __to __die.__'_

"Hey Kenpachi, I think it's enough for today." Yume said tiredly.

The captain didn't even hesitate and jumped towards the redhead with his sword ready to strike. "I disagree."

Yume dodged Zaraki's blow and sighed tiredly. _'__Well__… __hope __is __the __last __one __to __die, __but __it __does __die.__' _Resigned, the redhead resumed fighting Zaraki.

* * *

-With Shi-

Shi had arrived to the 4th division's medical wing and was walking aimless through the many corridors, looking for Yume and/or Unohana with a discreet smirk on her face. Many shinigami were staring at her with a curious expression, wondering why the ryoka was walking around their division after being out of there for less than one day.

'_Now where would Unohana-san be?' _

Shi was walking around the place with troubled expression on her face when a small shinigami with black hair approached her with a kind smile on his face.

"E-Excuse me but can I help you in something, miss?" The boy asked politely.

The girl smiled gratefully at the boy. "Actually yes, do you know where I can find Unohana-san, sir?"

"Unohana-taichou?" The shinigami said curiously. "She must be in her office doing paperwork right now. But why do you want to see her?"

Before Shi could answer the boy, his eyes widened and he started to thrash his arms around and talk desperately.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked, that's your business! I didn't mean to intrude or anything, I was just curious; after all it's not everyday that a ryoka comes here to talk with our captain. N-Not that's something wrong with being a ryoka! On the contrary, I've heard that you're quite strong - not that I asked around about you it's just t-"

Shi laid her hand over the shinigami's mouth to silence him with a huge sweat drop behind her head. _'__This __boy __gets __nervous __pretty __easily.__'_

"Relax; there is no problem in you asking me why I want to meet your captain, actually it was something that I expected… eh… What is your name, sir? Mine is Shinsei Shihi."

The girl removed her hand off the shinigami's mouth.

"I'm Yamada Hanatarou, 4th division's 7th seat." Answered the shinigami.

"It is nice to meet you, Yamada-san." Shi said with a polite smile on her face. "Now, about my reasons, I was looking for master, and the captain-commander told me he could be here and I thought I could find him in the company of Unohana-san. But I guess he is not here since she is busy working."

Hanatarou looked at the girl curiously. "Who exactly is your master, Shinsei-san?"

Scratching the back of her head, the girl smiled sheepishly to Hanatarou. "By 'master' I mean Nishizono Yume, he is a tall redhead with green eyes. Sorry, I do not talk to many people-" _'__Actually, __none __besides __master.__' _"- so I am used to simply call him master."

At hearing the girl's apology, Hanatarou's eyes widened. "No need to apologize! I was the one intruding anyway so I'm the one who sho-"

When Shi noticed that the boy was going to start talking like crazy again, she quickly closed his mouth with her hand.

"You were not intruding Yamada-san so, once again, relax." The girl removed her hands from Hanatarou's mouth. "I guess you did not see master around here, right?" The 7th seat shook his head no.

Shi dropped her head and sighed disappointedly. _'__Master, __you __are __not __a __dog__… __you __are __a __mule. __You __should __be __spending __time __with __Unohana-san! __She __had __accepted __your __invitation __already! __Who __knows __when __another __woman __as __beautiful __as __her __will __lack __enough __sense __to __accept g__oing __out __with __you __again__…' _

Raising her eyes to the shinigami in front of her, the girl smiled sweetly. "Thank you for your help, Yamada-san; I will look for master in the 5th division now. Bye, bye!" Then she took off running and waving good-bye to Hanatarou.

The boy waved back. "You're welcome Shinsei-san! Hope you find your master soon!"

After leaving the 4th division, Shi directed herself to the 5th, always following Kokoro no Kagi's directions. _'__I __hope __master __is __there. __I __really __want __to __talk __about __everything __tha__t __has __been __decided __by __the __Central __and __the __captain-commander __so __far__…'_

Shi was about to enter the 5th division's main building when she was approached by a serious-looking shinigami.

"Excuse me, miss." The shinigami began. "But you've got to state your name and business here before I allow you in."

Staring at the man that was talking to her, Shi answered with a respectful voice. "Oh, right; my name is Shinsei Shihi, and I am looking for mas- I mean, Nishizono Yume, he is a tall redh-"

The girl's description was interrupted by a curious voice coming from inside the building. "Shinsei-kun?"

Shi and the shinigami she was talking to turned their heads to the direction the voice had come from and their gazes met the 5th division's captain's figure. The brunette walked towards them with a kind smile on his face.

The serious-looking shinigami's eyes widened and he bowed to his captain. "Aizen-taichou."

Fearing to offend the captain on their first encounter, Shi imitated the shinigami and bowed to the brunette before her.

Chuckling softly, Aizen started talking. "Raise yourselves, there's no need to such courtesy." The 5th division's captain turned to his subordinate with a reassuring smile. "You can return to your chores; I'll handle this."

"Hai, Aizen-taichou." The shinigami said before walking away from the duo.

After the unknown shinigami resumed doing whatever he was doing before Shi had arrived at the 5th division, Aizen turned to the girl that was looking at him with expectant and curious eyes. _'__Who __would__'__ve __guessed __I__'__d __meet __the __girl __so __soon?__'_

"Glad to see you're feeling well, Shinsei-kun." Aizen said kindly.

The human girl stared at the male with a curious look. _'__That __is __the __5__th __division__'__s __captain __alright. __But __why __does __he __talk __to __me __with __such __familiarity? __Did __we __meet __before?__'_

As if reading the girl's thoughts, Aizen reminded her of their short encounter a few days ago. "I'm one of the captains that were restraining Yume-san in the zanpakutou's deposit some days ago. I'm really sorry about the circumstances in which we met, but I really hope we can build a nice relationship between us, especially since Yume-san is a great friend of mine."

With recognition dawning in her eyes, Shi bowed politely to the brunette standing before her.

"Of course we can!" Shi said enthusiastically. "You are Aizen-san, right? Master talked about you."

"I hope he didn't give you a poor vision of me." Aizen said jokingly.

Raising herself, Shi chuckled softly. "Do not worry, just good things were said."

"Yume's far too kind." The 5th division's captain said softly. "Talking about him, where is he?"

The girl scratched the back of her head. "That is what I am trying to find out… the captain-commander said that he could be here so I came looking for him."

The brunette looked apologetically to the teenager. "I see. Sorry Shinsei-kun, but he isn't here."

"There is no need to apologize, sir." Shi smiled reassuringly at the man. "I am sure I will find him soon."

The glasses-wearing captain smiled back. "So am I." Now with a curious expression, Aizen asked the girl. "If you don't mind me asking; what was decided by the Central 46?"

Aizen noticed that Shi was looking hesitantly to him after hearing his question. _'__It __seems __questioning __the __girl __about __the __Central __46 __was __going __too __far.__'_

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, Shinsei-kun." Aizen said quickly. "I asked out of sheer curiosity."

The girl's eyes widened a little and she shook her hands in front of her. "No, that is not the problem. It is just that I want to find master as soon as possible and explaining everything would take me some time…"

The kind-looking captain nodded his head in understanding. "I understand."

"Though…" Shi began to speak thoughtfully. "If you have some free time, you can walk with me to the 11th division and I will tell you what has been decided. I guess there will be no harm in that since the captain-commander will soon request a meeting with all captains to explain what is going to happen."

The 5th division's captain stared at the girl contemplatively for a couple of moments before accepting her offer. _'__I __don__'__t __really __have __anything __to __do __and __it__'__ll __be __better __for __me __to __know __what__'__s __going __to __happen __before __Yamamoto__'__s __announcement. __Not __to __mention __that __it__'__s __only __natural __for __the __kind __Aizen-taichou __to __interact __with __everyone __as __much __as __he __can, __at __least __for __now.__'_

"I'd love to accompany you to 11th division, Shinsei-kun." Aizen said kindly.

The girl smiled up at the kind-looking captain. "Please, sir, call me Shi."

* * *

-In 11th division-

After two hours of non-stop fighting, even Yachiru gave up on watching. Now, instead of cheering for the combatants, the child-like lieutenant was doodling on Ikkaku's face; the 3rd seat that was obliviously sleeping (and loudly snoring) already had a mustache, a monobrow and ridiculously large sideburns drawn on him.

Admiring her work, Yachiru giggled. "It's the first time I've seen Baldy with any hair on his head."

Turning her gaze to the fighting males, the small lieutenant smiled slightly. _'__Yu-Yu __sure __missed __Ken-chan __to __fight __him __for __so __long.__' _

Yawning, Yachiru decided to follow the now hairy Ikkaku's example and laid down on the floor, using the male's shinigami's belly as a pillow. _'__I__'__m __tired __too; __I __think __I__'__ll __just __close __my __eyes __for __a __while__…' _After a couple of minutes, Yachiru was fast asleep.

* * *

-With Shi and Aizen-

Aizen was walking besides Shi, paying close attention to everything she was telling him. _'__So __the __girl__'__s __going __to __show __up __here __in __Seireitei __frequently. __Maybe __I __could __use __her __in __my __plans, __like __Momo __and __Izuru; __since __she __doesn__'__t __know __anyone __here __it__'__ll __be __easy __to __get __on __her __good-side.__'_

"So you're going to try-out every division to see which one will be the most adequate for you? You're lucky; I don't recall any shinigami having this opportunity." The glasses-wearing captain smiled to the girl. "I hope you have a good time in my division, Shi-kun."

The girl smiled back and nodded. _'__Aizen-san __is __just __as __kind __as __master __described __him __to __be. __Knowing __that __I __will __be __living __with __someone __like __him __sure __is __reassuring.__' _

"I am sure I will, sir. By the way, should I call you Aizen-san or Aizen-taichou?"

Aizen chuckled. "Both are fine by me."

"Well, the shinigami that work under you call you Aizen-taichou, right?" The captain nodded. "I guess I will call Aizen-taichou too then; this way they will not consider me disrespectful or anything."

"You shouldn't worry about that." Aizen said reassuringly. "All of my subordinates are very nice people and I doubt any of them would think poorly of you because of something as trivial as that."

"I am glad to hear it." Shi turned to the brunette with curiously and expectant eyes. "Aizen-taichou, do you mind telling me about the other captains' personalities? Master told me a little about some of them, but I would like to have another's opinion."

"I don't mind it at all." Aizen said.

The 5th division's captain acquired a thoughtful and concentrated expression. "Let's see… you've already met Yamamoto-soutaichou, so let's jump to Soi Fong. She takes everything very seriously and will not tolerate laziness of your part, especially since you're a ryoka – she's quite conservative. Then there's Ichimaru-taichou, he's quite th-"

"Oh, we can skip him." Shi said. "I have already met him too."

Aizen pretended to be surprised, though he was smirking arrogantly inside. "Really? When was that?"

Smiling nervously, Shi answered. "When I woke up in 4th division, he and I talked a little before Unohana-san showed up." _'__I __think __it __will __be __better __if __he __does __not __know __Gin __and __I __met __before __the __zanpakutou__'__s __deposit __situation__…'_

Aizen nodded his head in understanding. "Alright then. After Ichimaru-taichou, there's Unohana-taichou, but I believe you've talked with her too, am I correct?" Shi nodded.

"After her there's me and then Kuchiki-taichou. Kuchiki Byakuya is the head of the Kuchiki clan, one of the 4 noble clans of Soul Society; he is very calm and controlled so I don't think he'll give you a hard time in his division, as long as you treat him with respect."

Shi nodded her head with a concentrate look on her face. "Noted."

"The next one would be Komamura Sajin, captain of the 7th division. I think you won't have any problems with him either; he's very gentle. After him there's Shunsui Kyouraku, he's very laid-back and aureate. Also, I'd keep my guard up if I were you."

Shi looked up at Aizen with curious and slightly worried eyes. "Why is that?"

"He's notorious for chasing after women, especially his lieutenant Ise Nanao; but other than that I believe you'll have a great time in his division." Aizen couldn't help but smile amusedly at the girl's relieved sigh.

"The 9th division's captain is Tousen Kaname, he has a very pacific nature, always trying to avoid pointless deaths; I really think you'll like him. Also, he publishes cooking recipes in his articles on the Seireitei Communication, a little journal of ours here in Seireitei."

Shi's eyes brightened at the last piece of information about Tousen and she smiled enthusiastically. "He likes cooking? Really? I also love cooking, though I do not know many recipes…"

Aizen smirked discreetly at the girl's enthusiasm. _'__It __seems __that __Kaname __also __will __be __able __of __getting __on __the __girl__'__s __good-side. __It __seems __it__'__ll __be __extremely __easy __to __manipulate __this __girl __when __the __time __comes.__' _

"It seems you'll have lots to talk about then." Aizen said softly. "Now, about the 10th division's captain. His name is Hitsugaya Toushirou and he's the youngest of the Gotei 13's captains. But don't be fooled by his young appearance, he's very serious and mature. Also, he hates when people treat him like a child. After him, there's Zaraki Kenpachi, he's quite the… well, brutal one, engaging in fights as much as he can."

The brunette captain noticed that the girl besides him had tensed slightly at hearing his description of the 11th division's captain, so he laid his hand on her shoulder in a reassuring gesture.

"Don't worry Shi-kun." Aizen said softly. "Zaraki-taichou loves to battle but he won't harm you. He likes fighting people who are as strong as him so I doubt he'll challenge you to a fight so soon."

Shi smiled up at the kind-looking captain. "Thank you, Aizen-taichou."

Aizen smiled back and retrieved his hand. "Now we have Kurotsuchi Mayuri, captain of the 12th division and president of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute."

Shi almost said to skip him too, but decided against it, judging it would be better if Aizen didn't know about her meeting with Kurotsuchi in the 4th division.

"He is… well, I don't like talking badly of one comrade, but the words that best describe him are crazy and cruel; he is the personification of the term mad-scientist, not having any boundaries whatsoever when it comes to his experiments, so please take care of yourself while working in his division."

Shi didn't make any comments, but her arms started to shake slightly, in anticipation or fear she didn't know.

Noticing the girl's reaction, Aizen pretended to be concerned for her. "Shi-kun, are you feeling well? Maybe it would be better if you skip Kurotsuchi's division; I can talk with Yamamoto-soutaichou if you want."

Shi turned her gaze to the brunette who was looking at her with a concerned expression and smiled reassuringly at him. "I will be okay. Actually, I am quite excited with the idea of working with Kurotsuchi-sama."

Aizen looked at the girl skeptically. _'__Excited? __Kurotsuchi-sama? __I __think __I__'__m __missing __something __here. __Maybe __Kurotsuchi __did __appear __in __Shi__'__s __room __while __Yume __was __gone. __Well, __I__'__ll __have __Gin __to __tell __me __everything __that __happened __in __the 4th__division __as __soon __as __I __meet __him.__'_

The way Aizen was looking at her made Shi quite nervous. _'__I __should __not __have __said __that__…' _

"So, about the captain of 13th division?" Shi said innocently, trying to return the conversation to its original topic.

The 5th division's captain's skeptical look gave place to a kind smile. "That would be Juushirou Ukitake, he's one of the kindest shinigami here in Seireitei, always treating everyone with respect, so I'm sure that you'll have a very nice time in his division."

The human girl smiled gratefully to the captain besides her. "Thank you for telling me about all of the captains Aizen-taichou; I am sure that there are other things that you would rather be doing."

"Of course not, it was a pleasure talking with you Shi-kun." Aizen said reassuringly.

Aizen smiled kindly at the girl, and then turned his gaze to the 11th division that was right in front of them. "We're here already, Shi-kun. Come, let's find Yume."

"You are coming too, Aizen-taichou?" Shi asked a little bit surprised.

"Of course, I wouldn't leave you by yourself in a place foreign to you." Aizen said good-naturedly. "Not to mention that I want to see how Yume is feeling; last time I saw him, he was passed out in 4th division."

Shi nodded her head in understanding as both walked into the 11th division's area. '_You __are __far __too __kind __Aizen-taichou; __I __am __looking __forward __to __training __in __your __division.__'_

* * *

**Man, I don't know what is happening in fanfiction, but I had to space all the words in itallic again... .**

**Oh, well...**

**Hope you liked chapter 14! And have this little equation in mind: reviews = happy author! XD**

**Oh! talking about equations, I have one that you may like:**

**Study = No fail**

**Study + No study = No fail + Fail**

**Study(1 + No) = Fail(1 + No)**

**So, if you divide both expressions by (1+ No)... **

**Study = Fail **


	16. Chapter 15

**Author: Hello everyone! Here's my Christmas present for all of you: chapter 15 of Lock! =)**

**Gin: Ta upload a chapter is a Christmas present, now? Ya're quite cheap, neh? **

**Author: Hey, that's not fair!**

**Shi: You should not say things like that, Gin-san. Sure, there are lots of better things than a new chapter of Lock and she could've written that Christmas special regardless the poll's negative result, but it is the intention that counts.**

**Author (head bowed in shame): Shi...**

**Shi: Yes?**

**Author: You're not helping. At all.**

**Shi: Sorry, then...**

***Uncomf****ortable silence***

**Gin: Well, ya guys enjoy the chapter, ok? **

* * *

-With Shi and Aizen-

Shi was following Aizen's lead through the 11th division area. The 5th division's captain was walking with a secure pace and with his usual kind smile adorning his features, while the young girl was examining her surroundings, trying to understand where they were going to. _'Strange, I thought that we were going to the captain's office but we did not enter the any of the division's building yet.'_

After reaching the 11th division's entrance to the training grounds Aizen halted his movements, what resulted with Shi bumping on his back. The girl took a step back and apologized to the man. "Sorry Aizen-taichou, I was looking around and did not notice that you had stopped walking."

The captain smiled down at the girl reassuringly. "Don't worry about it."

Both were standing in front of a big Japanese archway; Shi examined the entrance with a confused expression on her face. "Where exactly are we, Aizen-taichou?"

"We're on 11th division's training grounds. If Yume-san came to 11th division, then I'm sure we'll find him and Zaraki-taichou here."

With that said, Aizen walked in the 11th division's training grounds with Shi on his toll. After some moments they saw two people fighting and walked towards their direction; Shi smiled as soon as she identified Yume as one of the fighters. _'I am so happy to see you, master.'_

The girl noticed that her master seemed to be tired of fighting, while his opponent was grinning from ear to ear and didn't give any signs of being tired. _'That must be the 11__th__ division's captain. As I expected, he does not seem able to get tired because of a fight, not to mention he is extremely scary. Now, I have to think a way to end this fight without displeasing this captain.'' _The girl didn't have to put much thought into the matter though; Aizen was already approaching both men to stop their fight.

Zaraki and Yume had their zanpakutou raised, ready to strike each other, when Aizen spoke. "Yume-san, are you sure it's a good idea to be fighting after being out of the 4th division's medical wing for less than a day?"

Both males stopped moving and turned their heads towards the 5th division's captain's direction.

Begrudgingly, Zaraki questioned the captain's presence. "Aizen, why are you here?"

"I was just helping Shi-kun to look for Yume-san." At that moment, Shi waved to her master with a small smile on her face.

Noticing Shi's presence, Yume sheathed his sword and ran towards her, stopping right in front of the girl with his hands on his knees and a labored breathing. Zaraki glared at Aizen for bringing his fight to an end. Noticing the glare he was receiving, the glasses-wearing captain raised his hands in a surrender manner and smiled apologetically to the fight-loving captain. Zaraki just rolled his eyes and, not even bothering to sheath his sword, walked towards his sleeping subordinates (Yachiru and Ikkaku) to wake them up.

The teenage girl was going to hug Yume, but stopped herself when she noticed how he was drenched in sweat. "I just will not hug you because you are for too sweaty, master."

"Don't worry; I am (puff) considering myself hugged. But (puff) when did you get out of (puff) Central 46?"

"I think it has been about an hour or so." Shi said nonchalantly.

"At least it hasn't been (puff) that long." Yume raised his head to the girl. "So, what has been decided?"

Shi opened her mouth to answer, but was cut by Ikkaku's angry voice. "WHAT THE HELL?"

The girl and her master turned their curious gazes to the direction the voice had come from, only to see an angry Ikkaku pointing an accusing finger at a giggling Yachiru. Since Ikkaku had his back to them, Shi and Yume weren't able to see his face.

"You did this!" Ikkaku said accusingly to Yachiru.

The child-like lieutenant giggled more at hearing Ikkaku's accusation. "Don't complain, cue-ball. At least you have some kind of hair now!" Zaraki's grin widened at hearing his lieutenant's words.

Yume and Shi approached Aizen, who was watching everything with a discreet but amused smile on his face.

"Aizen-taichou, what happened?" Shi asked.

"Apparently, Yachiru drew on Ikkaku's face while he was sleeping."

Shi furrowed her brows. "But how did he notice it?"

"I believe he saw his reflection on Zaraki's blade; it may not be in the best conditions, but it still reflects something." Aizen said.

Ikkaku and Yachiru started bickering again while Zaraki stared at the ground with an annoyed look on his face. Soon, the 11th division's captains got tired of his subordinates bickering and walked away from they, approaching Yume, Shi and Aizen, who were watching the scene with amused smiles on their faces. Laying his sword on his shoulder, Zaraki looked down, making the girl tense.

"You're the girl that fought Gin some days ago. So, you're Yume's protégé, huh?"

Shi straightened up, very intimidated by Zaraki's size. "Y-Yes, sir." _'He knows about the fight between Gin and me, so he must be one of the people that were watching it.'_

A grin stretched across Zaraki's face, making the girl feel even more intimidated. "Are you up for a fight, girlie?"

Forget being intimidated, Shi was simply terrified now. The girl looked into Yume's green orbs with desperate eyes, pleading for his help. The redhead quickly intervened; positioning himself between Zaraki and Shi, he looked up at the 11th division's captain with an easy-going smile on his face.

"Come on Kenpachi, you can't be serious." Yume began. "Shi wouldn't even be able to see you raise you sword to hit her."

Shi narrowed her eyes at the redhead, slapping the back of his head lightly. "Unnecessary words, master."

Glaring at the girl over his shoulder and rubbing the back of his head, Yume continued. "What I'm trying to say is: Shi doesn't have the skills to fight you, Kenpachi."

Zaraki raised his eyebrow. "I don't believe you; the blast of energy the girl threw at Gin on the end of their fight was big enough; I think she'd be able to make a decent opponent."

Aizen, who had been watching everything quietly, decided to help Shi's situation. "Zaraki-taichou, the girl is quite young, not to mention that she's a human, so you can't really expect her to control her reiatsu with perfection. That blast was simply a lucky blow."

Shin nodded eagerly. "Exactly, I do not have the sightless idea how I did that."

The battle-loving captain stared at the terrified girl for a few moments, then he sheathed his sword sighing. "Alright, I'm not gonna fight with the girl." Shi sighed in relief. "I don't enjoy beating the shit out of cowards."

Yume observed Shi's relieved expression turn into one of anger with apprehensive eyes; the redhead was expecting Shi to jump at the man's throat, but she didn't move a muscle. After glaring at Zaraki for some more moments, Shi softened her gaze until she dropped her glare completely, and turned her head to the side to stare at a tree. _'What's up with you, Shi?'_

Still staring at the tree, Shi started chewing on her lower lip. 'I_ can not blame him for calling me a coward. After all, I am trying my best to avoid SPARRING with him; I mean, it is not even a real fight.' _The girl stole an apprehensive glance at Zaraki's huge and muscular form. _'But still, I am afraid of fighting him.'_

Still staring at the tree, Shi mumbled. "Kenpachi-san, I am afraid of fighting you." The girl turned her head to look directly into Zaraki's eyes with determination burning in her own orbs. "But that does not mean I am a coward. You will see, after I train enough, we will have our fight; that is a promise."

Though Aizen smiled fatherly at the girl, he wasn't interested at all in the Shi's words. _'Oh God, that's so cliché.'_

Yume, on the other hand, was staring at his protégé with a proud smile. _'That's my girl.'_

Satisfied, Zaraki recovered his grin. "I'll make sure you fulfill your promise, girlie."

Shi smirked and was about to say something to Zaraki when a certain pink-haired lieutenant flew directly into her, knocking her out almost instantly and making her fall on the ground beneath the child-like shinigami. Sitting on the taller girl's stomach, Yachiru exclaimed happily.

"Ken-chan has a new fighting buddy! Don't worry Yu-Yu's daughter, I'll train very well so you and Ken-chan can have a nice fight!" Not hearing any response from the girl sprawled on the ground, Yachiru started to bounce on her stomach, demanding attention. "I'm talking to you, Yu-Yu's daughter! Stop ignoring me!"

Major sweat drops formed on the back of Yume, Zaraki and Aizen's heads as they watched the scene before them; just one thought passed through their minds. _'Poor Shi…' _

Noticing that Ikkauku wasn't there anymore, the 11th division's captain asked his lieutenant about his 5th seat's location. "Yachiru, where's Ikkaku?"

Yachiru ceased her bouncing and turned to Zaraki smiling. "Cue-ball went to the bathroom to wash his face." The small lieutenant jumped to Zaraki's right shoulder and started giggling. "He doesn't know I used a permanent marker."

Yume ran to Shi, who was just reopening her eyes; the redhead helped her sit up very slowly.

Massaging her stomach and moaning in slight pain, Shi turned to her master with hazy eyes. "Was I run over by a train?"

"You wish." Yume raised three fingers in front of Shi's eyes. "How many fingers do I have up?"

"Twelve?"

"That's not even possible, Shi. Try again."

Blinking the haziness out for her vision for a couple of moments, Shi looked again at Yume's hand, slowly focusing properly on it. "Three." The redhead lowered his hand and nodded to the girl.

Yume turned his head to the captains that were a few feet away; he was about to call them but stopped himself at noticing that they were receiving a message from a Hell Butterfly. _'Must be something related to Shi and I.' _The redhead then looked at Shi for a couple of moments; the girl was staring at the three shinigami as if she already knew what the Hell Butterfly was telling them. _'Certainly it's something regarding us.'_

After the Hell Butterfly had flied away, Yachiru jumped off Zaraki's shoulders and ran inside one of the 11th division's buildings, probably to look for Ikkaku to annoy him, while Aizen and Zaraki walked towards Shi and Yume.

Pretending to be sad about what he was going to say, Aizen started speaking. "Yume-san, the Central 46 decided that you have to return to the Human World by tomorrow noon."

At hearing Aizen's words, Yume's eyes widened and he turned his gaze to his protégé. "Did you know about that, Shi?"

Looking sadly at Yume, Shi nodded her head. "One of the judges of the Central 46 said you would have to return to the Human World as soon as possible, I just did not know it would be that soon…"

"That's nothing we can do?" Yume asked Shi.

Shi shook her head sadly. "The judges and wise men said that their decision was final."

The redhead stood up. "I see... Well, in this case we don't have much time left and I still want you to tell me what's going to happen, so let-"

Looking apologetically at Yume, Aizen interrupted the redhead and resumed talking. "Actually Yume-san, Yamamoto-soutaichou has convened a meeting involving Shi-kun and the Gotei 13's captains, so I'll have to ask her to accompany Zaraki-taichou and I to the Captain's Assembly Hall."

The former captain sighed, but said nothing.

Shi nodded her head in understanding and raised herself from the ground. Yume was going to help the girl up but stopped himself when she shook her hand dismissing his help. "I guess we should wait until after the meeting to talk so we can have a calm conversation, master."

"I guess so, but I'll still walk with you to the 1st division."

At hearing Yume's words, Shi smiled to herself. _'It is weird; I am feeling so happy just for being able to spend some minutes in master's company before the meeting.'_

'_**It's natural, child.'**_Kokoro no Kagi spoke._** 'Much has happened in the last days and now you've got to prepare yourself for spending six weeks away from Yume, in a foreign place with people you don't know. You're just seeking for that comfort you know you won't be getting anytime soon.'**_

Aizen smiled down at Shi. "Are you ready to go?" The girl quickly nodded.

Zaraki and Aizen turned around and started walking to the 1st division side by side. Yume and Shi lagged a little behind, keeping a distance of about four meters between them and the captains.

Yume looked a Shi by the corner of his eyes. _'What's wrong with her? She got awfully quiet all of sudden.'_

"You're okay, Shi?"

Shi forced herself to smile up at Yume. "Yes." Dropping her forced smile, Shi turned her eyes to the sky. "Maybe… I do not know."

Seeing the apprehensive look on the young girl's eyes, Yume held her hand firmly to show he was there to give her the support she needed. Understanding Yume's intentions, Shi couldn't help but hug her master's arm and lay her head on his shoulder, seeking as much contact as she could get.

With sad eyes, Shi remembered her zanpakutou's words. _'Kokoro no Kagi is right; after tomorrow, master and I will spend much time apart from each other.' _

Gazing into Yume's orbs, Shi smiled up softly. "I will miss you very much in the next six weeks, master."

Yume's eyes widened slightly. _'So that's why she's like that.' _The redhead's surprised expression turned in a fatherly smile.

"These six weeks will pass by very quickly; you'll see, in a blink of an eye you'll return to Italy and we'll use the rest of your vacations to relax and have fun."

Shi smiled softly. "I will be looking forward to it."

* * *

-In the 1st division's grounds-

The sun was beginning to set down by the time Aizen, Zaraki, Shi and Yume reached 1st division's grounds. The two captains decided to wait for the other ones inside the Captain's Assembly Hall while Shi and Yume spent their time sitting on the roof of the building. The young girl was laying her head on her master's shoulder and the redhead had his arm around her shoulders.

With a soft voice, Yume started talking. "I'll be waiting here for you, this way we'll be able to talk as soon as the meeting ends."

The girl nodded. "That is good; we have lots to talk about, not to mention that we have to adjust the amount of reiatsu that I will have sealed."

"About that..." Yume began with a smile on his face. "I've been thinking of sealing one only third of your reiatsu, just for precaution. Let's give some time to Kokoro no Kagi's purifying powers to settle in you. After that, I believe we'll be able to let even more of your reiatsu unsealed."

Shi's eyes widened. "Are you sure about that, master?"

Smiling down at the girl, Yume nodded his head confidently. "Of course I am; you spent less than a week with the zanpakutou and your reiatsu seems to be like anyone else's."

"Only when I am touching Kokoro no Kagi though, if I let go of her my reiatsu starts going back to normal pretty quickly."

"That's why we'll wait for Kokoro no Kagi's power to settle in you. After a couple of months with it, you should have no problems in spending some days without your zanpakutou around."

Hearing footsteps bellow them, Yume and Shi looked down to see Hitsugaya, Komamura and Ukitake arriving to the meeting, though the only one known to Yume was the 13th division's captain. The three captains below had noticed Yume and Shi's presence and were staring at them expectantly. Sighing, the redhead removed his arm from Shi's shoulders.

"I guess it's time for you to go." Yume said calmly.

Shi nodded her head and kissed Yume on the cheek. "See you later, master." That said, Shi jumped off the roof.

Yume watched the captains greet Shi; Ukitake was the first one to speak, giving the girl a warm greeting. Shi bowed to the three captains as she introduced herself; as he expected, Ukitake gave her a kind smile and introduced himself and the other two captains that were beside him. After the introductions were over, Shi walked in the Captain's Assembly Hall talking to Ukitake.

Closing his eyes, Yume laid down on the roof. _'The meeting should last an hour or so, just enough for me to take a good nap.'_

* * *

-Inside the Captain's Assembly Hall-

The room was long and its furniture consisted of a simple chair, on which the captain-commander was sitting; the other captains were standing in two lines on each of the captain-commander's sides. Finding some sort of assurance in Ukitake's company, Shi kept herself close to the kind captain as she entered the Captain's Assembly Hall; though she did stop for a few seconds to give Gin a smile and a wave, making the fox-like captain chuckle as he waved back to the girl and earning her curious glances from most of the captains in the room. Noticing that she was standing right in front of the corridor created by the lines of captains, Shi scurried close to Ukitake and stood in line besides. _'I will just wait quietly for someone to talk to me.'_

The captains in the room spent some moments examining the young girl, as if they were measuring her worth as a warrior and as person; most gazes were simply analytical, though some held some sort of sympathy and others held mistrust or dislike. After some moments though, all of the captains moved their gazes from the girl, with the exception of Kurotsuchi, Kyouraku and Ukitake, who continued to observe her discreetly; Kurotsuchi's gaze was analytical, Ukitake's was reassuring and Kyouraku's was curious.

Hesitantly, Shi raised her gaze to take another look at the captains. In the line Shi was in, there were the captains of the odd-numbered divisions: Gin, Aizen, Komamura, Tousen, Kenpachi and Ukitake. Since she hadn't met the 9th division's captain yet, Shi spent some moments examining him. _'He seems to be a very calm person, something that suits the description Aizen-taichou gave of him.' _

After examining the captains of her line, Shi directed her curious and still nervous eyes to the ones that were in the other line: Soi Fong, Byakuya, Kyouraku, Hitsugaya and Kurotsuchi. Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, Shi pulled on Ukitake's sleeve lightly; the 13th division's captain looked down at the girl with a smile on his face, encouraging her to talk to him.

Shi spoke in a very low voice. "Ukitake-san, why is not Unohana-san here?"

"Ah, Unohana-taichou must be busy with a patient, but I'm sure she'll be here in a few minutes."

Shi nodded her head. "That makes sense. Thanks, Ukitake-san."

Ukitake smiled down at the girl. "No need to thank me, Shihi-kun."

Shi just smiled back at the 13th division's captain and went back to observe the captains of the even-numbered divisions. The girl remembered encountering Soi Fong in the zanpakutous' deposit. _'She was the one glaring at me in the deposit; again, Aizen-taichou's description suits my first-impressions very well, she really seems to be the strict type.' _Moving her gaze to Byakuya, Shi could feel her eyes widen. _'He is so beautiful… reminds me of Victor, especially due to his gray eyes.' _Feeling Shi's gaze on him, Byakuya looked at her direction inquiringly; the girl blushed and quickly moved her gaze from the 6th division's captain to the 8th's one.

Kyouraku, who was observing the girl all the time, was not able to hold back a low chuckle. Noticing that Kyouraky saw her staring at Byakuya, Shi shot a nervous smile at the flamboyant captain, who smiled reassuringly at the girl, as if telling her to just shrug it off. _'He seems to be a very nice person.' _

Suddenly, Shi's embarrassed expression morphed into one of horror. _'I just hope Gin-san did not notice me staring at Kuchiki-san. He already saw me blush because I was too close to him… I can not let him have more things to tease me about in the future!' _Thankfully to Shi, Gin's position didn't allow him to observe the girl as well as he wanted, so the only thing he saw was Byakuya looking inquiringly at her.

The door to the Captain's Assembly Hall opened and all of the people there turned their gazes to the 4th division's captain, who was standing at the room's entrance with a smile on her face.

"I apologize for my delay." Unohana said calmly. "I was taking care of a severely injured shinigami and I couldn't interrupt the healing process."

Yamamoto nodded, signalizing that Unohana's explanation was accepted and that she could take her place in line. After the 4th division's captain was standing in line between Soi Fong and Byakuya, Yamamoto announced with a powerful voice.

"The Gotei 13 captains' meeting has now begun."

* * *

**Well, hope you all enjoyed the chapter! As always, review please. =)**

**Before I go, I have a few words to say.**

**First of all, Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have a great time with your families and/or friends, exchanging presents and eating lots of great food. (screw ALL the diets!)**

**Now, since I doubt I'll have another chapter ready by January 1st, I'd also like to wish you all a Happy New Year! I'm sure 2012 will be a great year for everyone. ;)**

**Thanks for everyone who stuck with me and read my fic during 2011; you did make my 2011 a better year! I love you guys! S2**

**Kisses,**

**Akai Angel.**


	17. Chapter 16

**Hello everyone! I hope you're all enjoying 2012 so far. ;)**

**Here's chapter 16 (I think it is the longest so far).**

**Well, hope you all like it!**

* * *

-In the Captain's Assembly Hall-

Not rising himself from his chair, Yamamoto beckoned Shi to come closer with a movement of his hand; the ryoka walked to him very quickly and stood by his left side, looking at the captain-commander expectantly as he started talking with the other captains.

"Let's end this quickly; this is Shinsei Shihi, one of the ryoka that entered Seireitei a few days ago."

At hearing Yamamoto's words, Shi felt an amused smirk tug at her lips, but held it back. _'From invaded to entered, huh? Nice going Yamamoto-soutaichou, the first step is always getting the old members to accept the new member.'_

"Though this girl is just a human, she posses a considerably big reiatsu and, now, a zanpakutou, therefore she'll work to us as a shinigami replacement in the Human World. The problem is: her skills are very poor-" Shi looked down, biting her lower lip in frustration. "-so she will be trained by the Gotei 13."

Byakuya was the first to speak. "But, Yamamoto-soutaichou, wouldn't it be better to send the girl to the Academy first?"

"There's no need for this, the girl still has much to learn but she does know the basis of kidou and of sword-fighting, Kuchiki Byakuya."

Byakuya regarded Yamamoto skeptically, talking with a calm and cold voice. "How's that even possible, Yamamoto-soutaichou? The girl is just human, there's no way she could be able to learn kidou."

With his peripheral vision, Yamamoto noticed Shi raising her hand timidly. _'Is this girl five years old?' _Suppressing an exasperated sigh, the captain-commander gave Shi the word.

"You may speak, Shinsei."

Shi lowered her hand and nodded. "Thank you, sir."

Regarding Byakuya, Shi started talking; though her eyes appeared calm, the girl was twitching her fingers nervously behind her back. "Kuchiki-san, my reiatsu is big enough for me to use kidou. So, after I had learned how to control my reiatsu - something that took me a few years I must admit - I was ready to be taught kidou. Mas- I mean, Nishizono Yume started teaching me kidou about two years ago."

The lack of surprise at the mention of Yume showed that all of the captains had been briefed about Shi and Yume's relationship, something that was to be expected, after all, the Gotei 13 did have the two days that Shi was asleep to share the data about the ryoka.

Taking Byakuya and Shi's dialogue as over, Soi Fong turned to Yamamoto and started talking with a slightly angry voice. "Instead of troubling us of the Gotei 13 with training a human girl, why not let Nishizono Yume finish her training?"

Yamamoto stared back at Soi Fong and answered her with a distant voice, surprising Shi. "Soi Fong, 70 years ago Yume left Soul Society for no apparent reason… he simply disappeared without even saying good-bye to his fellow shinigami." Unohana and Ukitake's gazes saddened. "The last thing I want is to have a future shinigami-replacement trained exclusively by someone as inconsiderate as him."

Shi narrowed her eyes at Yamamoto, biting her lower lip to keep herself from lashing out at him, something that didn't go unnoticed by the captain-commander.

Regarding the girl coldly, Yamamoto spoke with a commanding voice. "If you have something to say just say it, **ryoka**."

Shi took a deep breath to calm herself, but nodded her head nonetheless and, though the girl was still a little angry, she talked respectfully. "I understand that you may resent master for leaving the Soul Society but he has taken great care of me in these last four years, so I must ask you not to talk badly of him… at the very least, not in front of me."

Gin's grin softened for a millisecond. _'As I've thought, this girl does stand up for her loved ones.' _

Yamamoto rolled his eyes. "Alright, whatever it takes to make this meeting end as quickly as possible. Now, back to this meeting's topic: in the next six weeks, the girl will spend three days in each of the 13 divisions and, after that, we'll choose the most appropriate ones to train the girl during weekends and holidays."

Kyouraku furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Why the girl's training will occur only in weekends and holidays, Yama-jii?"

"Shinsei is a human teenager, so, obviously, she has a life as a student in the Human World and we don't have the right to take it from her, so she'll only be able to come on weekends and holidays." Explained Yamamoto.

"Ah, that makes sense." Said Kyouraku.

Yamamoto scanned all of the people in the room. "The girl's try-outs will start the day after tomorrow, following numeric order, is that understood?" All of the captains nodded. "Good; this meeting has officially ended, you may all go back to your duties."

Dismissed, the captains started to walk out the Captain's Assembly Hall leaving just Shi and Yamamoto in the room; the young girl wasn't sure if she could simply go, so she waited for the captain-commander to say something.

"In two days, one of the shinigami from my division will be waiting for you in front of the 1st division's main building." Yamamoto spoke. "He will give you a tour of my division, as well as tell you what you will do during the five days that you'll be under my command. You may leave now, Shinsei."

Yamamoto raised himself and started to walk out of the room with Shi on his toll.

"Understood, sir." The girl said with a low voice. "Also, I am sorry for earlier… I guess I did not have to get that worked up because of what you said, but I really love master so I could not help myself."

Yamamoto stopped walking and looked at the girl over his shoulder. "Since you've been doing a good job so far in acting respectfully towards the Gotei 13's captains, I'll let that minor fault of yours slip. But don't get used to it; I'm not an understanding man and I don't intend to become one."

Shi smiled thankfully to the elder captain. "I shall keep that in mind, sir."

* * *

-With Yume-

Shi found Yume sleeping soundlessly on the rooftop they had marked as a meeting point. The girl kneeled besides Yume and shook him lightly, talking with a low and soft voice.

"Master, wake up, the meeting has ended already."The redhead grumbled and rolled to the side, giving his back to the young girl. Shi frowned, but went back to talking to Yume. "Come on master, we have little time together; you are leaving tomorrow at noon, remember?"

That seemed to do the trick because, as soon as the last word left Shi's lips, Yume rolled back and opened his eyes, staring at the girl while laying on his back.

"Hungry?" Asked the redhead.

Not expecting the question, Shi's eyes widened a little but the girl's surprised expression soon gave place to a smile. "Yes, very much so."

Yume smiled back at the girl as he raised himself. "Then let's go have some dinner, I know a good restaurant nearby."

Shi looked up at Yume with skeptical eyes. "How are you going to pay, master?"

Stretching his muscles, Yume answered. "I was really good friends with the place's owner, so I'm hoping she'll let us pay later. Well, you actually, since I'm most likely not coming back."

Shaking her head from side to side, Shi sighed. "I should have seen this one coming; the restaurants' bills are always left for me to pay."

"Don't complain, Shi." Yume said, letting out an annoyed sigh.

"I am not complaining." Shi replied. "I am just stating a fact."

Shi raised herself and stood besides Yume with a smile on her face. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let us go."

* * *

-In the restaurant-

Shi giggled quietly as she and Yume entered the restaurant; Gin had taken her out to dine in the very same place a few days ago. For a few moments the redhead looked at the girl as if she was crazy.

"Shi, why are you laughing?" Asked Yume.

"It is nothing worth mentioning, really." Shi replied, ceasing her giggles.

Yume shrugged his shoulders. "If you say so."

Yume spotted the restaurant's owner talking to some of her costumers. The owner was a woman that seemed to be in her early forties, she was 156cm tall, dark-skinned and had a beautiful face and a caring smile; she was wearing an elegant yellow kimono with aqua-green flowers decorating its fabric, the kimono was kept in place by a dark-green obi that was tied around the woman's waist.

Shi could feel a smile stretch across her lips. _'She seems like a very nice person.'_

The redhead waited until she had finished talking to approach her. "Obaa-chan, long time no see."

The woman turned to Yume and her eyes widened in surprise as she hugged the redhead motherly. "Yume-chan! What are you doing here? I was told that you were dead!"

Yume scratched the back of his head and smiled apologetically to the owner. "I'm sorry about that, Obaa-chan. It's complicated."

Now holding the redhead by his shoulders at arm-length, the woman narrowed her eyes at him and talked with a sternly voice. "Complicated or not, you could've given me a heads up! Do you know who worried I was when you didn't show up for three months in a row?" Now the woman's eyes were full of tears and she was almost screaming. "Even more, do you know how sad I was when I was told that you were dead?" Shi and the rest of the people in the restaurant were watching the scene with wide eyes.

Yume's eyes were filled with shame as he looked into the woman's orbs. "I-I'm really sorry, Obaa-chan, the last thing I wanted was to make you sad." The redhead kneeled on the ground and stared up at the woman with sad and pleading eyes. "Please, forgive me."

The woman stared silently at the kneeled male for a few moments, and then she put him on his feet. By the ear.

"Don't you play the kicked puppy act, boy." The woman said with a commanding voice. "I know you since you were 14, so that won't work with me."

Cringing in pain, Yume talked desperately. "I'm not playing any act; I'm apologizing to you seriously! Release my ear, Obaa-chan! Please!"

Ignoring Yume's request, the restaurant's owner sharply turned to Shi, making the girl straight up her posture. "You're with Yume-chan, right?" Shi nodded. "Then come with me." With that said, the woman started dragging Yume - still by the ear - to the back of the restaurant, Shi obediently following.

Shi could feel sweat streak on the back of her neck. _'I bet she would be able to make a fly respect her if she wanted to.'_

As one person, the rest of the people in the restaurant thought: _'What the hell just happened?'_

* * *

The restaurant's owner had dragged Yume to one of the place's privates booths; it wasn't the one in which Shi had dined with Gin, but it was just as luxuriously decorated with beautiful paintings and golden patterns on the wall. The dark-skinned woman closed the door behind her and glared at Yume, who had already braced himself for a lecture; Shi was watching the woman cautiously.

Surprisingly, the woman's glare softened and she smiled warmly at the redhead, making him smile in relief. _'Thank God Obaa-chan isn't really angry at me, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she truly resented me that much.'_

With a soft voice, the woman spoke. "I'm really happy to see you well, Yume-chan."

"I'm really happy to see you too, Obaa-chan. And I really am sorry for not showing up anymore without any explanation… I didn't plan to do it, it simply happened."

"Let's not cry over spilled milk, okay? Now-" The woman turned her warm gaze to Shi. "-who's this lovely girl?"

Shi blushed at the compliment and looked down at her feet, mumbling a shy 'thank you'; the woman laughed heartily at the girl's embarrassment.

Yume walked to Shi and laid his left hand on the top of her head. "Obaa-chan, this is Shinsei Shihi. Shi, this is Sawajin Kaoru."

Shi bowed to the woman and spoke respectfully. "It is a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

The woman let out another laugh. "No need to be formal with me child, as matter of fact, please call me Obaa-chan just like Yume-chan does."

Raising her torso, Shi nodded her head with a smile on her face. "Alright, Obaa-chan."

The woman smiled approvingly. "Is she your daughter, Yume-chan? She reminds me a little of you."

Shi's eyes brightened at hearing this. "Really?"

The woman nodded. "You may not look like each other physically, but you both walk the same way: with long strides and backs straight. Not to mention that, just like you young lady, Yume-chan is very respectful to people he doesn't know very well. Also, you share the same smile."

Talking about smiles, there was a huge one adorning Shi's features, something that surprised and pleased Yume greatly. _'I never imagined that I meant this much to Shi.' _The redhead could feel a fatherly smile tugging at his lips. _'It's nice to see how much I matter to Shi.'_

Shi and Kaoru noticed that Yume seemed to be in another world, so they stared at him with curious and expectant eyes. Noticing this, Yume dropped his line of thought and smile reassuringly to both women.

"Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts; yet another trait that Shi and I share. Neh, Shi?" Said the redhead.

Shi smiled up at the redhead and nodded; Yume smiled back and laid his left arm on the girl's shoulders while looking at the smiling Kaoru.

"But she's not my daughter, Obaa-chan." Yume said, answering Kaoru's question.

The woman shook her head dismissively. "You may not share the same blood, Yume-chan, but it's obvious that you share the same kind of love, and that's what truly counts. She is your daughter, Yume-chan."

Yume looked down to Shi, who was looking back at him with expectant eyes. _'I guess Obaa-chan's right, Shi has been my daughter since the day I saved her and Victor… it just hadn't downed on me yet.' _The redhead smiled lovingly at the girl and kissed her forehead.

"As always, you're right Obaa-chan."

Shi felt tears of happiness build up in her eyes and buried her face on Yume's chest, hugging the redhead tightly. _'I am so happy you said this, master. It has been sometime already since I have noticed that I see and love you as a father, but I was not sure you loved as much as you would love a daughter. Man, I fell like I could do anything right now..'_

Yume patted the girl on the back. "You're drying your tears on my shihakusho once again, aren't you?"

Shi snorted and shook her head, what made her really dry her tears on Yume's clothes; on the back, Kaoru watched the scene with amused eyes. After some moments, Shi let go of Yume and rubbed the rest of her tears on her shihakusho's sleeves.

Watching the young girl, Yume chuckled. "You're so emotive."

"I'll get a waitress to attend you, be right back.' Kaoru said as she opened th booth's door.

The woman was about to walk out, but was stopped by Yume's voice.

"Before this, I have something to ask you Obaa-chan. You see, I didn't bring any money with me, but Shi's going to stay here in Soul Society for the next ten weeks, so do you mind if we put off the bill until she has the money to pay you?"

The woman's eyes widened in mock-disappointment. "I can't believe you, Yume-chan! You're going to make a girl, your daughter nonetheless, to pay the bill?"

Making her best puppy eyes, Shi approached Kaoru and talked with a self-pitying voice. "He always does that, no matter how expensive the restaurant is, I always pay the bill."

Understanding that Shi simply wanted to mess around with Yume, Kaoru joined her act and hugged the girl, patting her on the back. "You poor child, I can only imagine how much money you've wasted. Yume eats **a lot**."

Kaoru and Shi started talking about Yume as if he wasn't even in the room. The redhead gritted his teeth and started taking deep breaths to calm himself. _'Don't kill the women, it's just a joke. Don't kill the women, it's just a joke.'_

"He does eat a lot, especially meat." Shi said. "Honestly, I have never seen someone able to eat as much meat as him and not feel nauseated. But the worst is that he eats a lot of meat in **every** meal! And there's still space to desert!"

'_Don't kill the women, it's just a joke. Don't kill the women, it's just a joke.'_

"That's true, and he doesn't even put on any weight. Sometimes I wonder if he throws up." Kaoru said back.

'_Don't kill the women, it's just a joke. Don't kill the women, it's just a joke.'_

"As if he was bulimic? But bulimia is a girl's problem…" Shi spoke with a thoughtful voice. "You are right, it is plausible."

'_Oh, screw it!'_

Glaring at the smirking women in front of him, Yume spoke angrily. "That's enough making fun of me for today, ok?" Shi and Kaoru nodded, chuckling. "Thanks. Now, can we put off the bill, Obaa-chan?"

Kaoru smiled kindly at the redhead. "There's no need for it, tonight's dinner is on the house. But, before you leave the Soul Society, I want you to say a proper good-bye to me this time, Yume-chan."

_'How does she know that master is going to leave Soul Society again? We did not mention anything about that.'_

Shi and Yume's eyes widened slightly and both started to protest, but they were silenced by Kaoru raising her right hand and narrowing her eyes at them.

"The restaurant is mine, and if I say that tonight's dinner is on the house, it is on the house, is that understood?" Kaoru said in a commanding voice.

Shi and Yume bowed their heads in defeat. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good." The woman's sternly expression gave place to a kind smile. "A waitress will be here to get your orders shortly." With that said, Kaoru left the room.

As one, Shi and Yume sighed exasperated and sat at their table. Shi was the first one to talk, staring at Yume with a confused expression on her face.

"Master, how did she know that you are going to leave Soul Society again?" The girl questioned.

Yume smirked. "Obaa-chan isn't only pretty, she's smart too." Shi seemed to be even more confused now.

"Obaa-chan must've realized that the Seireitei wouldn't allow me to just return to Soul Society after I suddenly left the place and deduced that I'd be banned to the Human World."

"About that…" Shi began with a sad look on her face. "I do not want to stay here without you, master. There is truly no way you could stay?"

Yume shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Shi. But don't worry, soon you'll mingle with other people here; there are many kind shinigami here."

"That is not what I meant, master - I mean, I am worried if I will make friends or stay by myself in the next days - but what really troubles me is that… well..." Shi smiled sadly. "I will miss you very much, master."

Yume smiled softly to the girl. "I've said this before and I'll say this again: don't worry, these days will pass you by so quickly that you won't even notice and soon we'll be back in Italy enjoying the last days of your vacations, ok?"

At hearing that, Shi smiled up to the redhead and nodded her head. "Ok!"

"Now that your crisis was solved once again." Yume said with an excited voice. "Let's talk about something else to take your head off this matter."

Shi nodded her head in agreement. "That is a good idea." Now looking at Yume inquiringly, the young girl questioned. "If we are going to change the subject, I have a question.

"Shoot."

"Why did you leave Soul Society so suddenly, master?" Shi asked with a nervous voice. "You never gave me much of an explanation before..."

Yume let out a sigh at hearing Shi's question. _'I knew this moment would come up sooner or later.'_ Looking at Shi with a serious expression, the redhead started explaining.

"Let me start by telling you about my mission; it actually has something to do with you: about 70 years ago, 68 to be exact, I was sent to the Human World, more specifically to England, because there were evidences that a very strong Hollow was appearing. Evidences like signs of its reiatsu and a Cero being blasted here and there."

"Question: if the Hollow was that strong, why did they send you by yourself to investigate?"

"There were three motives." Resumed Yume. "First: it was just a recognition mission. Second: though some Cero had been blasted, there was no casualty whatsoever. Third: the reiatsu found on the area was very similar to the Hollow that killed Kazeya Mishin, the previous master of Kokoro no Kagi, and I had done a lot of research about him and how he was killed, so I had some idea of the Hollow's powers if I ended up engaging in a fight with it."

Shi's eyes widened and she stole a worried glance at the zanpakutou that was laying on her lap.

Noticing her master's concern, Kokoro no Kagi spoke reassuringly. _**'Don't worry child, it has been more than 500 years since that my former master died, so I won't get sad just at the mention of his name.'**_

Shi mentally nodded. _'Ok, it makes sense.' _

Yume was about to resume his narrative when there was a knock on the door that announced the waitress' arrival. Shi and Yume turned their heads to a smiling girl entering the room; it was the same one that had attended Shi and Gin a few nights before.

"Hello there, I'll be your waitress for tonight! Are you both ready t- Hey! You're the same girl from some nights ago aren't you, miss?"

Shi confirmed with a nod of her head, making the waitress' smile grow. "I'm very glad you liked our food so much to come back in less than a week!"

At hearing that, Yume furrowed his eyebrows. _'Shi came here the day we broke in Seireitei? But how did she find this pl-… Gin.' _The redhead stole a glance at Shi._ 'Well, Shi is okay so nothing big must've happened.' _

Not having the courage to say to the waitress that her return was simply a coincidence, Shi just smiled back to the girl.

"The food here is simply delicious." Shi spoke.

"Indeed it is." Agreed the waitress. "Now, are you both ready to order or do you want to wait a little?"

Remembering what happened last time she was asked this question, Shi glared at her stomach, as if daring it to growl again. Understanding the girl, the waitress chuckled quietly to herself. Yume, on the other hand, just stared at Shi as if the girl had grown a second head, or lost the one she had.

Shrugging his shoulders, Yume looked up at the waitress. "We would like to order already, I want a yakiniku, a portion of pork gioza, two salmon temaki and a meat yakisoba."

Both girls stared at Yume with wide eyes, making a vein start pulsing on the redhead's forehead. Noticing this, the waitress quickly looked down at her notepad to write down Yume's orders.

"A yakiniku, a portion of gioza, two salmon temaki and a meat yakisoba… And you, miss?"

Shi looked up at the waitress with an indecisive look on her face. "Eh, what do you recommend?"

"We serve a great yosenabe here, it's a stew made with seafood, vegetables and mushrooms."

"Alright, I will want this one please." Shi decided, smiling up at the waitress.

"Very good, and to drink?"

Yume was the first one to answer. "Watermelon juice." Shi looked strangely at the redhead, due to his quick answer.

"What?" Yume asked defensively. "This place's watermelon juice is very good."

"In this case, I will have a watermelon juice too, please." Decided Shi.

The waitress smiled at both before bowing and taking her leave. As soon as she was out of the room, Yume resumed his narrative.

"So I was sent to England, only some months before the start of the World War II. It was actually easy for me to simply concentrate on my mission and look for the Hollow, but-"

"You did not find it." Shi concluded.

"More than that; not only I didn't find any clues about its whereabouts, but the previous signs of its reiatsu vanished as well. It was like a criminal cleaning up the proofs on the crime scene with the cop examining the place. Needless to say, it pissed me off to watch all of the clues vanish right under my nose so I stayed on the place for much more time than the expected, trying to find any sign of that Hollow. A year passed me by before I could even notice."

"So it was not because of that Hollow that you left the Soul Society, was it?"

Yume shook his head. "No; at that time I still kept in touch with the Seireitei through the Hell Butterfly that was with me. I only stopped contacting them after the start of the Battle of Britain. Ever heard of it?"

Shi furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. "I think I heard this name before… Oh! It was one of the conflicts that occurred during the World War II, right?"

Yume nodded seriously. "After defeating France, Hitler strived to conquer Britain, but the Royal Air Force, aka RAF, posed a big threat to the German Army. To weaken the RAF, Hitler sent his own aerial forces, the Luftwaffe, to fight the British aircraft, initiating the Battle of Britain. Though the German aircraft outnumbered the British one, the RAF was able to win the battle." Yume's eyes darkened and his voice grew cold. "Though, from what I saw, I don't believe England really won that… so many cities were wrecked, so many lives were lost."

Shi looked worriedly at Yume. _'Master, that did make an impression on you.'_

Shaking his head, Yume's eyes warmed up once again and he smiled at his protégé. "No need to look at me like that, it has been 70 years already."

Shi nodded, but she didn't buy it. _'You spoke just like Kokoro no Kagi did about her master… I wonder if everything is really okay with you both, even if so much time has passed.'_

"Now, back to why I left Soul Society." Yume said. "You know Shi, many people in Rukongai become a shinigami to obtain better living conditions, but I did it because I wanted to help people."

Shi smiled softly at Yume. "I remember you telling me about this, you wanted to make a difference in other people's lives."

Nodding, Yume continued. "Yes, and that's why I decided to stay in the Human World after this battle, it showed me that I could do more as a human in the Human World than as a shinigami in Seireitei. So I killed the Hell Butterfly that was with me and returned to the Seireitei to ask Kurotsuchi to give me a gigai."

Chuckling, the redhead continued. "It was actually pretty easy to get him to do it; he never liked me much so, when I said that with that I'd leave Seireitei permanently, he gave it to me almost immediately. It took me a while to arrange documents in the Human World as an englishman, but, after I did it, I engrossed in the British army and started making my way up, it was quite quickly due to the training in Seireitei that made me develop a good strategic capacity."

"Master…"

After Shi's interruption, Yume stopped talking, expecting the girl to say something, but she just stared at him with nervous eyes.

Brows furrowed, Yume urged the girl to speak. "Spit out, Shi. I'm not going to get mad at you."

Shi kept staring at the redhead with nervous eyes, but she spoke nonetheless. "I do not want to pry or anything, but why did not you say good-bye to the other shinigami?"

Yume's eyes saddened. "You see, I wanted to say good-bye to everyone… but what would I say? Hey, I'm going to live in the Human World now; good luck finding a new captain? I don't see that going well."

"But, could you not say good-bye even to Unohana-san, Aizen-taichou and Ukitake-san?" Shi asked. "I think they got really sad with you just disappearing from the Seireitei."

"I know." Yume agreed with a sad voice. "But I didn't find the courage to face them. I just don't think I'd be able to say to them that I was going to simply leave the place."

"But-"

With a tired voice, Yume interrupted Shi. "Please, just drop it. I really don't like talking about that."

Understanding Yume's feelings, Shi quickly changed the subject. "Another question then: what did you do with the aging problem?"

Yume smiled thankfully to the girl. "Good question. You see, after ten years without aging at all, people - mostly women - started questioning 'what was my secret' and that set off the alarm that I couldn't simply continue young forever. Luckily, I found a former shinigami like me living in Japan that was as smart as Kurotsuchi, and asked him if he could help me with my problem. Two months later I received a huge package by the mail with a gigai capable of aging in it; I still use it when I have to go to England or to the British Embassy in Rome."

Shi nodded her head in agreement. "I am surprised they did not retire you yet, master. How old are you to them?"

Yume looked at the ceiling thoughtful. "My documents say that I am 87 years old. More than just retiring, I believe I'll have to die in the register office in a few years. Do you think it's believable for me to live more than ninety years?"

Shi shrugged her shoulders. "Why not? There are people with more than 100 years."

"True."

There was a knock on the door.

"Come on in." Shi and Yume said at the same time.

The smiling waitress entered the booth bringing their food and drinks. After everything was set and the waitress gone, Shi and Yume smiled at each other and made a toast.

"To a relatively successful mission." Said Shi.

"To the beginning of a new chapter in your life." Said Yume.

* * *

**My God, there was so much fluffiness in this chapter that I think I'll be puking rainbows for a whole week. XDXD**

**Now, I checked the historical references in three different sites, so I think everything is right. But, if you see something wrong, tell me that I'll fix it right away.**

**Also, Yume did have military training and there were lots of battles in which he could 'prove his worth', but it is never quick to rise in the military career so don't take what I wrote too seriously ok? ;)**

**And something important: BULIMIA IS NOT JUST A GIRL'S PROBLEM; that was a joke. Bulimia is a serious eating disorder that may occur in women and men from all ages. I know most of you know that already, but I felt it was my obligation to write this.**

**PS: The story is happening in 2007 and, on the Human World, Yume acquired an ID that said he was 19 years old.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**As always, review please. =)**


	18. Chapter 17

**Hello everyone. I was able to write another chapter this month so I'm updating chapter 17 sooner. Hope you like it! =)**

* * *

-With Ukitake and Kyouraku-

Ukitake and Kyouraku were standing on the second floor veranda that was in 8th division's main building. Kyouraku had his torso bent and his elbows laid on the railing, staring off in the distance with a relaxed smile on his face; Ukitake, on the other hand, had his back straight and was staring at the moon above him with a melancholic expression.

Noticing his friend's distress, the flamboyant captain elbowed him playfully on the ribs. "Want some sake, Ukitake? I'm sure it'll get you out of this gloomy state."

Ukitake stole a quick glance at Kyouraku by the corner of his eye. "There's no need for that, Kyouraku."

The 8th division's captain furrowed his eyebrows. "Never thought that Nishizono was that important to you. I'm getting jealous; I thought that the best friend's position was mine."

Ukitake quickly turned his head to look at Kyouraku, what caused the white-haired captain to feel a pinch on his neck. "Ouch."

"Don't be ridiculous." Said Ukitake, massaging his own neck. "You are my best friend and you know it."

Kyouraku smirked amused. "Yes, but I wanted to know what you'd say."

After some moments, Ukitake deemed his neck good enough and stopped massaging it. Turning his head, slowly now, to look sternly at his friend, the 13th division's captain started talking. "You almost made me break my own neck to that."

Kyouraku smiled up at Ukitake. "It was the quickest way to get your attention." The 8th division's captain sat on the veranda's floor, passing his right leg in-between the railing's bars and letting his foot dangle, while his left foot was planted on the ground. "Now, seriously, why you're so gloomy, Ukitake?"

Sighing, the silver-haired captain kneeled down besides his friend, moving his gaze from the sky to his friend's eyes. "Is not that Yume is specially important to me, but he did spend some time as a 4th seat on my squad so I can't help but feel a sense of loss at hearing that he must leave the Seireitei permanently."

"I see." Now facing the moon, Kyouraku let out a brief chuckle. "Now that you mentioned Nishizono working as your 4th seat, I remember when he practically begged for you to give him a harder training so that he could become a captain faster, the man even kneeled to bow for you that day."

Remembering the episode, Ukitake smiled. "Yes, I remember that. And the training did work; in less than 13 years as a shinigami, Yume became captain of the 7th division." Ukitake's face saddened again. "I still don't understand how he could forget all the effort he put on the trainings and extra-trainings to become a captain and just abandon the Seireitei."

Kyouraku laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You should just forget it, Ukitake. The boy was captain for what, five years?"

"Six and a half." Corrected Ukitake.

"Six and a half years is very little time; he must've noticed that the captain's life wasn't for him and left the place."

Ukitake turned his gaze to the sky, staring contemplatively at the moon. "If that was the reason, he would've talked to me about leaving the Seireitei before actually doing it, but he didn't even behave differently before going on his mission."

Kyouraku also raised his eyes to the moon. "What if he was ashamed?"

Ukitake furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Ashamed?"

"Yes, he could be ashamed of admitting to you that he didn't want to continue being a captain after all the time you wasted training him."

Ukitake shook his head. "I don't think so; Yume knew what was waiting for him before asking me to help him to become captain."

Both captains became silent and just stared at the moon, trying to find out what made Yume simply disappear from the Soul Society without telling a soul about his plans.

After a couple of minutes, the 8th division's captain was almost falling asleep. _'How can Ukitake keep himself focused on something as boring as that for more than 45 seconds in a row? I think I'll take a quick nap, he's so concentrated that he won't even notice.' _Kyouraku stole a quick glance at his friend's concentrate face. _'No, I came here with the intention oh helping Ukitake so I bett- wait. Intention… maybe Yume didn't intend to leave Soul Society, maybe something happened in the Human World to make him stay there.'_

"Neh, Ukitake." Kyouraku said.

Ukitake moved his gaze from the moon to his friend. "Yes?"

"What if something that happened in the Human World made Yume stay there?" Kyouraku began. "What if he didn't plan to leave the Soul Society?"

Ukitake cogitate his friend's theory for some seconds. "That makes a lot of sense, Kyouraku; it explains why he didn't behave differently and didn't say farewell to anyone, not even Unohana-taichou."

Ukitake's last words made a smirk stretch across Kyouraku's face. "Now, why did you highlight Unohana-taichou in that phrase, Ukitake?"

"I-I didn't even mention Unohana-taichou, Kyouraku." Ukitake said nervously, turning his gaze back to the moon. "You must be imagining things."

Kyouraku's smirk widened. "Ahh… so Nishizono has a thing for Unohana-taichou."

Ukitake dropped his head in defeat. "Don't tell anyone about it, ok?"

Chuckling, Kyouraku nodded. "Alright, I'll keep a secret, but only if you tell me more about it. Since when is Nishizono infatuated with Unohana-taichou?"

"I don't think infatuation is the best term to describe Yume's feelings towards Unohana-taichou. Actually, no one knows for sure if he likes her that way or if he just admires her."

"I get it." Kyouraku said. "Now, tell me the story."

Ukitake sighed. _'I'm sorry, Yume.'_

"In his last year in the Academy, Yume and three other students were sent on a field training to eliminate some weak Hollows in the Mt. Koifushi, of the West Rukongai. He said that they were handing the task pretty well when two Gillians appeared; they tried to fight it, but their attacks were too weak to damage it and end all of them up very injured, in critical condition. The Gillians were about to blast a Cero to finish them when Unohana-taichou appeared and killed them; after that, she healed the students on the spot, saving their lives."

Kyouraku chuckled. "Ah, so it was love at first sight; how cute."

Ukitake couldn't help but smile. "Not exactly; from that day on, Yume started to admire Unohana-taichou, not love her – and I still don't know if he really loves her. He told me that he wished to be able to save people just like she did that day."

Kyouraku furrowed his eyebrows. "So why didn't he stay in the 4th division to learn medical techniques from her?"

"You see, Yume chose to begin his career as an unranked shinigami of the 4th division. He did try to learn medical techniques from Unohana-taichou, but he didn't have any talent to heal others. It didn't take long for her to notice that Yume wasn't in her division because it was the most adequate for him."

Kyouraku chuckled. "He sucked that much in healing?"

"Honestly?" Questioned Ukitake. "He actually made things worse; if you had a minor cut in your hand he could make you end up with a mutilated arm."

Kyouraku flinched. "That sounds nasty."

Ukitake nodded. "Indeed, and that's why Unohana expelled him of her division and sent him to mine."

Kyouraku's eyed widened. "She kicked him out?"

"Well, actually, she sent him to my division. Unohana-taichou told me that, though he wasn't able to heal anything, his fighting skills were extremely developed so I placed him as my 4th seat. Strangely, just after Yume left the 4th division that he and Unohana-taichou really began to go out to talk to each other."

"Always as friends, huh?" Kyouraku asked.

"Yes."

"Man, he's slow." Concluded the 8th division's captain.

Ukitake couldn't help but nod in agreement. "And now that he's back, he has to leave right away. It's a sad thing that they'll end up being apart; I think he really cares about her, even though he denys it."

"How do you know they'll be apart?" Said Kyouraku with a wise voice; something that didn't happen often. "Only time will tell that, and, when you're a shinigami, time is something quite abundant."

Ukitake moved his eyes from his friend to the moon, staring at it with a serene expression on his face.

"You're quite right, Kyouraku." The white-haired man said softly. "We, shinigami, do have much time in our hands."

* * *

-With Shi and Yume-

Shi and Yume had finished their dinner and were now chatting in the booth.

"Master, when are you going to re-do the seal on my reiatsu?" Shi asked, tilting her head to the side.

Yume shrugged. "I can do it now. Here, give me your necklace."

Shi didn't move, staring incredulously at Yume. "T-Take off my necklace, master? But what if I am not able to keep my reiatsu under control? Why do not you re-do the seal with me wearing it as you always did?"

Yume couldn't help but laugh at the girl's worry. "Don't worry, Shi; I think you can take a couple of minutes without the necklace since you have Kokoro no Kagi." Smiling reassuringly at the girl, the redhead raised his hand to receive the necklace. "It'll be okay."

"Alright then…" Agreed the girl.

Yume could feel an amused smirk stretch across his face as he watched the girl take off her lock necklace with her eyes shut tight, as if something was about to explode. _'Well, can't really blame her. Last time she took off the necklace a whole room ended up destroyed before I was able to control her reiatsu.'_

Shi was holding her lock necklace over Yume's raised hand; biting her lower lip, she released the jewelry.

Nothing happened.

Surprised, Shi opened her eyes and saw Yume spin the lock necklace around his right index finger with a smirk on his face.

The redhead's smirk widened at the girl's shocked expression. "I told you you'd be fine." Yume said with an arrogantly. "Now, give me a couple of minutes to adjust the seal and you're good to go. Well, stay actually." Still baffled, Shi just nodded her head.

Concentrated, Yume closed his eyes and started to re-do the seal on the necklace, making the jewelry glow a faint yellow. Shi's attention drifted from the redhead in front of her to inside her head. A familiar voice had just come back; its childish tone had deepened over the years, making it sound like a male voice.

'_**Finally I can speak again! I can't believe you locked me away, Shi! I mean, I didn't like at all when you restrained me a little, but completely shutting me out was taking it too far!'**_

'_**No need to yell, we can hear you just fine.' **_Scolded Kokoro no Kagi. _**'And she did well in shutting you out, you complain too much.' **_

'_**You bit-'**_

Shi cut the voice in her head. _'That is enough, voice. And I am sorry for shutting you out completely-'_

'_**You should be; I wasn't able to talk to you at all in the three days you were asleep! The only one I've talked to since we left the Human World is that paper-colored woman who invaded OUR inner world; and, believe me, she's not a good company.'**_

'_Why must you be so rude?' _Complained Shi._ 'I like Kokoro no Kagi very much; she is very nice and kind.'_

'_**Thank you, child.' **_Spoke Kokoro no Kagi. _**'But there's no need to defend me from him; it's only natural for a kid to dislike the unknown.'**_

'_**Who are you calling kid, bird-woman?'**_

'_**Bird-woman?' **_Asked a now very irritated Kokoro no Kagi._** 'Never heard of angels, spoiled brat? Don't they appear in your bed-time stories? Oh, sorry; I forgot that they revolve around giant beanstalks, gingerbread houses and big bad wolfs.'**_

'_**Why you-'**_

'_Please, do not fight.' _Pleaded Shi, but it was in vain... both voices kept arguing. _'I guess you can not keep yourself from lashing out at him, neh Kokoro no Kagi? I am doomed.'_

As both voices started to argue in Shi's head, Yume had finished adjusting the seal of her necklace and threw it to her. Distracted as she was, Shi didn't notice it and the jewelry ended up hitting on the girl's head before falling on her lap, but it was so lightly that it only served to take Shi out of her thoughts and back to reality.

'_**You're still gonna to use the seal?'**_ Asked the voice. _**'Even carrying bird-woman around? I'm doomed to only have her to talk to…'**_

'_**Believe me; you're not going to have me to talk to.'**_

'_Do not worry, we will talk this night and figure a way to keep all of us satisfied.' _Spoke Shi as she put on the necklace. _'Until then, please, do not fight.'_

As soon as Shi put the necklace on, the masculine voice ceased.

'_**How can you live with that thing?'**_

'_Please, do not call him a thing; he may be annoying, but he is not that bad when you get to know him. Unless he feels like causing you to have horrible nightmares and headaches, because, when he is inspired to do that, even the devil has to take off his hat to him.'_

"You're okay, Shi?" Yume asked, taking Shi out of her thoughts once again.

"I am fine, master." Shi answered with a reassuring smile. "Just putting my head in order."

* * *

-With Gin-

The 3rd division's captain was walking around the Seireitei; more specifically, around 4th division's area, something that earned him many dubious and wary looks from the shinigami there. _'Hehehe, seems like my presenc' here is makin' people uncomfortable… I love it!'_

Unohana, on the other hand, didn't love the discomfort that his presence was causing, so she decided to take care of the matter directly and approached him.

"Ichimaru-taichou," She said good-naturedly. "Do you need something from my division?"

"Not really, Unohana-taichou." Gin answered amusedly. "Jus' keepin' myself away from Izuru to avoid paperwork. I hope it's not a bother for ya."

Unohana had to hold back a sigh; she didn't particularly like the fox-like captain, but she also didn't have anything against him. _'How can I take care of this without sounding indelicate?'_

"It's not a bother, Ichimaru-taichou, it's just that your presence here… well, it intimidates my subordinates a little."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Unohana-taichou! I didn't notice it" Gin dramatically apologized and Unohana had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "I'll tak' a walk somewhere else… mayb' look for Shi-chan and Yume-chan." That caught Unohana's attention, as Gin knew it would. "Why don't ya come with me, Unohana-taichou? I'm sur' ya must be dyin' ta talk a little with Yume-chan lik' the good old-times."

The female captain pondered the question for some moments. _'Indeed, it would be good to talk to Yume again; he owes me an explanation for disappearing from Seireitei.'_

"Do you know where they are, Ichimaru-taichou?" Unohana asked smiling politely.

"Not really." Gin answered, widening his grin. "But, I'm sur' we'll be able ta find them in no time. We jus' hav' ta follow their reiatsu."

Unohana had to hold back a sigh. "Let's go them."

* * *

-With Shi and Yume-

Shi and Yume were standing outside the restaurant, waiting for Kaoru to finish talking to some of the clients to say good-bye to her.

"You know what, master?" Shi spoke enthusiastically. "The night is still so young; we should use your time to do something good, that we will not be able to do once we are in the Human World. We could even invite Unohana-san; who knows when a woman as beautiful as her will lack the sense to accept a date with you again?"

Glaring, Yume hit the girl on the back of her head. "You should learn when to be quiet, Shi. And, AGAIN, I didn't ask Retsu-san out; I truly just wanted to thank her for taking good care of you." The redhead smiled softly, but it wasn't directed to anyone. "I respect and admire her too much…"

"So what?" Shi spoke furrowing her eyebrows. "I also respect and admire you very, very much… but that doesn't stop me from loving you, master."

"That's a different thing, Shi." Yume said. The redhead was about to speak a little more but stopped himself at seeing Kaoru walk out the restaurant.

"Glad to see you're going to say a proper farewell to me this time, Yume-chan." Kaoru spoke with a smile on her face. "That's the polite young man that I met."

Yume couldn't help but pout. "I already said I was sorry…" Shi and Kaoru chuckled at seeing Yume's childish expression.

"You look so cute, master!" Shi said between chuckles. "Why have I never seen you like that before?"

"Because I'm not going to behave like a child in front of one." Yume spoke matter-of-factly. "It might stimulate your childish side, and God knows I already suffer a lot because of it as it is."

It was Shi's time to pout. "It is not true."

"Oh, really?" Yume said. "Let's make a list, shall we?" The redhead raised his right thumb. "One: when you were twelve, you took three kittens the house; I'm allergic to cats."

"But they were lost and-" Shi tried to explain, but was cut by Yume.

"I'm talking now, Shi. Two:" Yume raised his index finger. "you had made apple and cinnamon bread dough and gave it to me, saying: 'You can eat the dough if you want to, master. Trust me; it is even better than the baked bread.' I don't know how BUT YOU GOT ME DRUNK WITH THAT BREAD DOUGH!"

On the background, Kaoru was laughing at Yume's reaction.

"Can you really blame me for that, master? You were the one who ate all of my bread dough." Shi said, unable to keep the smirk off her face. "And I already explained to you why you got drunk: the fungus and bacteria in the yeast make the dough grow by alcoholic fermentation, a process that products ethanol. The only thing that is truly inexplicable is how you were able to eat almost two kilograms of bread dough without feeling sick."

"Whatever." Yume spoke through gritted teeth. "Now, number three: you put baking soda in the ketchup bottle just before I used it, making it become a volcano when I opened the damn bottle."

Shi couldn't help but to join Kaoru in laughing at Yume's expense.

"That day was funny." The teenager began. "But that prank was meant for Victor, not you."

"Talking about Victor, number four: you told him to blow hard my cheek in a steam sauna; DO YOU HAVE IDEA HOW MUCH THAT BURNED?"

"I-I honestly did not believe he would go through with that." Shi said apologetically. "I think he did not believe me when I explained what would happen. I am truly sorry… at least, for that one."

Kaoru looked curiously at Shi. "Why a blow on the cheek burned him?"

"You see, Obaa-chan-" Shi began with a scientist's voice. "-when you blow, you eliminate water vapor. But the air in a steam sauna is completely saturated with that, so the vapor you blew on the person is forced to condensate, eliminating heat. This heat ends up absorbed by the person's skin, burning it."

"I can assure you of that." Yume said, touching his cheek as if it still hurt.

Shi was about to open her mouth to apologize again, but she stopped herself at hearing Gin's voice. The girl, Yume and Kaoru turned towards the direction the voice had come from and their gazes found Gin and Unohana's silhouettes walking towards them.

"That was a nasty prank, Shi-chan!" Gin spoke cheerfully, with his trademark grin in place. "Mind if I use it?"

* * *

**Hope you liked the chapter!**


	19. Chapter 18

**Hello people... It's been a while, no? =.=**

**First of all, many apologies for no updating for so long. I'm sure some of you must be hating me right now. Honestly? I don't blame you; after all, it's been six months since I posted the last chapter. ****Justificatives for that? Lack of time and inspiration to write this story. -.-**

**I don't know exactly when I'll post the next chapter... I still need to figure out a way for my Lock muse to come back to me. But I'll try my hardest not to take so long to update this.**

**Well, I hope you all who haven't given up on this enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

-With… well, everyone-

Waving her hand to the approaching captains, Shi greeted them with a cheerful smile on her face. "Hello Gin-san and Unohana-san! It is nice to meet you both again."

"Hello, Shinsei-san." Unohana greeted the girl. "Yume, Kaoru-san; it's nice to see you too."

"You know each other?" Shi asked looking from Kaoru to Unohana.

"Of course we do." Kaoru answered. "Yume has brought Unohana-san to my restaurant many times already."

Turning to Yume, a mischievous smile grew on Shi's face; for only the redhead to see it. _'I must remember that to tease master in the future. Who knows? I may even use this to win an argument with him.'_

"Ya guys forgetin' about little me, here?" Gin asked with a childish pout on his face. "Or are ya jus' ignorin' me?"

"Of course not, Ichimaru-san." Kaoru reassured the fox-like captain with a smile on her face. "I could never do such a thing to my best client. Not to mention that you are hard to forget, and impossible to ignore."

"Why, thanks Kaoru-baa!" Gin said cheerfully.

Shi couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows at the fox-like man's response. _'I do not believe that was a compliment…'_

"So…" Yume began. "What are you both doing here? Better yet: what are you both doing here **together**?"

"Jealous, Yume-chan?" Teased Gin.

"O-Of course not!" Yume answered, blushing already. "It's just strange to see you both together… unless it's something related to work."

"We were just looking for you both." Unohana explained. "You will be spending the night in my division. Also, I need to talk to you, Yume. And Ichimaru-taichou wishes to speak with Shinsei-san."

Yume furrowed his eyebrows. "Gin wants to speak to Shi?" The redhead turned his stern gaze to the silver-haired captain. "About what exactly?"

"No need ta look at me lik' that, Yume-chan; it's nothin' big." Gin answered shrugging his shoulders. "Jus' wanted ta spend some quality time with our soon-ta-be shinigami, mayb' give her a tour of Seireitei. What do ya think, Shi-chan?"

Shi was about to decline the offer, but the look of 'just-say-yes' she received from Gin and Kaoru made her think twice.

"I-I guess?" Shi said nervously, looking from Kaoru to Gin.

Yume and Gin opened their mouths to speak, but Kaoru cut them to it.

"That's a great idea, Ichimaru-san!" The restaurant owner spoke cheerfully. "Don't you agree, Yume-chan?"

Yume just stared at Kaoru with wide eyes, unable to say anything.

"Well, silence is consent." Kaoru concluded with a clap of her hands. "Now, off you go." The dark-skinned woman started pushing Shi and Gin forward.

"W-Wait, Obaa-chan!" Shi protested as she tried to turn around, but it was of no use.

"Jus' go with it, Shi-chan." Gin whispered, grinning down at the girl. "It'll be nice for Yume-chan and Unohana ta have some time to chat befor' he leaves **forever**. Not ta mention that I was under the impression ya'd lik' ta talk with me again. Was I wrong?"

"It is not that, Gin-san, I jus-"

"He's right, Shi." Kaoru cut in. "You and Yume will have lots of time to talk when you return to the Human World, but Unohana-san won't be able to see him anymore. If anything, you can talk to him tomorrow before he leaves."

Shi's eyes widened slightly. _'They are right; it would be too selfish of me if I did not let them spend some time alone before master leaves.'_

"We will talk in the morning, master!" Shi screamed over her shoulder.

"Ah, ok then." Yume murmured, waving to the girl's retreating form.

"So, Retsu-san…" The redhead began with a nervous voice. "I guess we got lots of talking to do."

"Yes." Unohana agreed. "That we do."

* * *

-With Gin, Shi and Kaoru-

"I think we're far enough, Kaoru-baa." Gin spoke casually. "Ya can stop pushin' us already."

Kaoru let go of Gin and Shi, giving the captain an apologetically smile. "Forgive me, Ichimaru-san."

"No worries." Gin said with his trademark grin.

"Well, if you excuse me, I shall return to my restaurant." Kaoru said, bowing slightly to Gin. Then she turned to Shi, giving her a big hug. "I hope to see you, at the very least, every week, Shi-chan."

"It will be my pleasure, Obaa-chan." Shi said returning the hug.

Kaoru made her way back to the restaurant, leaving Shi and Gin alone somewhere on Rukongai's 1st district. The girl turned her eyes to the male who was grinning down at her. _'I guess he wants to know what I discovered in the Central 46. Should I tell him? I still do not think he is very trustworthy… but we did make a deal. Man, what to do?'_

Gin just watched the girl's expression go from blank to thoughtful, then to concentrate (and a little exasperate). _'Hehehe, what's disturbing yer thoughts, Shi-chan? Don't tell me, ya're worried about what ta tell me from Central 46. Tch, of course ya are! Anyone would be, after all. But ya'll tell me everythin' about it later. I jus' know ya'll.' _With that thought, Gin decided to have his fun with the girl and mock her a little, then have a friendly chat and, just then, he'd ask her about the Central 46. _'A comfortable enemy is an easy target.'_

"Why are ya starin' at me lik' that, Shi-chan?" Gin asked, widening his grin. "Are ya thinkin' about ways ta kill me or how handsome I am? 'Cause, honestly, this look of yers is quite confusin'."

Shi's eyes widened and she blushed, "O-Of course I am not thinking about ways to kill you, Gin-san; let alone how handsome you are."

"Aha! So ya do admit I'm handsome!" Gin said, pointing an accusing finger at the now beet red girl.

"W-What? No! That was not what I meant!" Shi protested desperately. "I was just repeating what you said to deny your question! Nothing more than that."

Gin lowered his fingers and made a sad expression. "So ya think I'm ugly, Shi-chan?"

Shi just stared at him with incredulous eyes. _'What the hell? Is he kiddin- wait. He __**is **__kidding me; and I fell for it.'_

Shi crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Gin. "Are you trying to make fun of me, Gin-san?"

"Not tryin'." Gin said happily with his trademark grin back in place. "Succedin'."

Shi couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes. _'I was worried over nothing; it seems he does not even remember about our deal.' _Focusing her gaze on Gin once more, Shi felt an amused smile stretch across her face. _'That is good though, if he is not here for business, I will be able to relax and just chat with him; after all, he is quite funny.'_

"Were you not supposed to give me a tour around Seireitei, Gin-san?" Shi asked mockingly. "It is night already and I am quite tired, so if you procrastinate too much I might fall asleep; and then you will have to carry all the way me to Unohana-san's division."

"Or I could jus' leave ya sleepin' on the streets." Gin said grinning down at Shi. "Which one do ya think it's more likely?"

Shi looked like she'd received a slap on the face. _'To sleep on the streets would not be nice.'_

"Maybe we should just leave the tour to another day, then." Shi concluded with a nervous voice. "To one in which I am not so tired and hence do not risk spending the night on the streets."

Gin chuckled. "I'm jus' kiddin', Shi-chan! Of course I wouldn't let ya sleep on the streets; I'd use a bucket of cold water ta wake ya up."

"How nice…" Shi said sarcastically, though the corners of her mouth turned upwards in amusement. "Seriously now, I have Kokoro no Kagi to guide me around Seireitei, so you do not need to waste your time giving me a tour around the place."

"Ahh, but I was looking forward ta talkin' a little with ya." Gin spoke in a mocking-sad voice.

Not realizing that Gin was actually kidding, Shi widened her eyes slightly and a blush made its way to her cheeks. _'He wants to spend some time with me?' _The girl couldn't help but smile to herself. _'It has been so long since someone, besides master and Victor, has said this to me.'_

"In this case, I guess we can just walk around and talk, Gin-san." Shi said with a big smile on her face.

Gin raised his eyebrows curiously at the girl's response, but nodded nonetheless. _'What a strange girl.'_

* * *

-With Yume and Unohana-

Both shinigami were sitting on the rooftop of the 4th division and gazing at the moon. Unohana had a calm but serious expression on her face. Yume, on the other hand, seemed to be simply distressed. He couldn't stop fidgeting and was moving his eyes from the moon to the female captain nervously. _'What should I say? What CAN I say? I'm so dumb! One of the things I wanted the most was to talk to her and now I'm speechless!'_

"Calm down, Yume." Unohana said firmly. "We both have lots to say to each other. But, if you continue as nervous as you are right now, you won't be able to say anything that's worthy being said and won't be able to hear me with the needed attention."

Yume stared at Unohana with attentive eyes as she spoke. After the captain had finished speaking, a happy smile stretched across the redhead's face.

"As always, you're right, Retsu-san." Yume spoke softly. "Just like that time you called me to speak about my transference to the 13th division. You remember it?"

Unohana could feel a small smile playing at her lips. "Of course."

* * *

-Flashback-

Unohana was in her office, standing by the window and reading some documents when there was a knock at the door. The door was opened, revealing the figure of her lieutenant at the time, Seinosuke Yamada.

"Nishizono Yume is here, Unohana-taichou." The lieutenant spoke with a respectful smile on his face.

"Ah, right on time. Please, let him in, Seinosuke." Unohana spoke casually.

Yamada took a step back, allowing the red haired shinigami to enter the office. At the time, Yume was just twenty years old; his hair reached his shoulders, and he was a couple of inches shorter than his older self. Also, while the older Yume isn't the most mature person in the world (of shinigami and of humans), at the age of twenty, his eyes were so childishly curious and nervous that, combined his shoulder-length straight hair, it seemed that Yume was sixteen years old.

Yume bowed to the 4th division's lieutenant and nervously stepped in the room. Yamada smiled at the redhead and bowed to Unohana.

"If you need anything just let me know, Unohana-taichou."

"Of course. Thank you, Shinosuke." Unohana said with a smile.

Yume heard the door slide shut behind him and started fidgeting. _'That's it; I'm going to get fired.'_

"Please, Nishizono, have a sit." Unohana said gesturing to the couch that was in front of her table; the redhead was quick to oblige. The captain sat at her table before continuing.

"Now, do you know why I've called you here today?"

"I-I think I do, Unohana-taichou." Yume said sadly. "I'm going to get expelled from Seireitei, am I not?"

Unohana's eyes widened slightly at hearing that and she couldn't help but chuckle, earning a very surprised and curious look from the unranked shinigami in front of her.

"Of course not, Nishizono." The captain spoke amusedly. "You're a great shinigami when it comes to fighting and have the potential to be one of the best strategy-makers in Seireitei. But your healing skills… they are quite…"

"Nonexistent." Yume said shamefully, lowering his gaze to the floor.

Unohana couldn't help but agree. "Well, yes. What brings the question: why did you choose to become a 4th division's shinigami when you have no talent with healing techniques?"

Yume kept silent for some moments, staring at the floor with a thoughtful look on his face. Unohana waited patiently for him to answer.

"Unohana-taichou, about a year ago, there was a field training with some students from the Academy." Yume said.

"I remember that day." Unohana interrupted. "There was a Gillian alert and I was asked to go help the students. You were one of them, right Nishizono?"

"Yes." The redhead confirmed. "If another captain had been sent to help us, we wouldn't be alive today; it's thanks to your healing skills that we're alive, Unohana-taichou. That's why I decided to become a 4th division's shinigami; to be able to save others like you saved me that day."

"I understand your logic, Nishizono." Unohana said with a kind smile. "But I think you're wrong."

"What do you mean, Unohana-taichou?"

"I do believe the other captains would've been able to save you and your comrades that day." Unohana said firmly. "For example, there are many captains that are faster than me and would've been able to reach the place in less time, keeping you and your comrades from getting as injured as you were when I arrived. Also, they could've taken medicine or a shinigami from my division with them to heal you on the spot."

Eyes slightly wide, Yume nodded his head in understanding.

"What I want you to realize, Nishizono-" Unohana continued with a kind voice. "-is that you don't have to be a healer like me to help others. You can do that just fine by being a good shinigami. It doesn't matter if you're good only at fighting, as long as you're willing to help."

"I see." Yume said to himself in a low voice, almost whispering.

After that, the redhead got silent again, and kept that way for some good minutes. Not bothered by Yume's presence, Unohana decided to finish reading the documents and give the unranked shinigami some time to think about what she had said.

"Unohana-taichou…" Yume began, looking directly in the captain's eyes. "What do you think I should do now? What is the better way for me to improve my skills?"

"You'll get out of my division, Nishizono." Unohana said, making Yume widen his eyes in shock. "I'm redirecting you to the 13th division, whose captain is Ukitake Juushirou; he'll be able to help you develop your skills better than me."

"You really think so, Unohana-taichou?" Yume questioned.

"Yes." The captain said firmly.

After some seconds of silence, Yume let out a conformed sigh and stood up. "When should I go?"

"You may leave today, Nishizono." Unohana said. "Ukitake is already expecting you."

Yume couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows at that. _'So Unohana-taichou was going to kick me out of her division, no matter the outcome of this conversation… Well, at least she talked to me about the matter instead of just transferring me.'_

"Thank you very much, Unohana-taichou." Yume said softly, smiling to the female captain.

"What for?" Unohana asked, looking up at the redhead with a curious smile on her face.

"For taking your time to talk to me about this matter; it was really thoughtful." Yume said. "Also, I haven't thanked you for saving my life on that day yet, have I? I was planning to help you out as a shinigami in your division to show you my thanks… Since this is no longer an option, is there something else I could do for you?"

"Forget about that, Nishizono." Unohana said with a kind smile on her face. "Helping a comrade shouldn't require any thanks."

"Still, there must be something I could do for you…" Yume spoke with a thoughtful expression. "I know! Ever heard of a restaurant called Shifu?"

* * *

-End of flashback-

"You know…" Yume began with a nostalgic smile on his face. "It was because of what you said to me that day that I decided to become a captain, Retsu-san; I wanted to help people like you."

"What made you change your mind and stay in the HUman World?" Unohana asked, staring at the redhead with inquisitive eyes.

Yume dropped his smile and turned his now serious gaze to the moon. _'The moment I've been dreading since I left the Seireitei has finally arrived… Well, no turning back now.'_

"I didn't change my mind, Unohana-san; but I found out that the best way I could help people was staying in the Human World. At least it was at the time I was sent there."

Unohana furrowed her eyebrows, but said nothing, allowing Yume to continue.

"Long story short; there was a war going on in the Human World at the time I was there. I wanted to make it end quicker, so I participated in the war by joining the army."

"Help how?" Unohana asked slightly irritated. "You're a shinigami! Your weapon is a zanpakutou, not those guns used by humans; there was nothing you could've done there."

At hearing that, Yume narrowed his eyes and lowered his gaze to the ground.

"You're not being fair, Retsu-san." The redhead spat out. "Don't you remember what you said that day? That I had the potential to be one of the best strategy-makers in the Seireitei. That applies to the Human World as well."

Unohana's eyes widened slightly at Yume's resentful tone. _'I shouldn't have spoken to him that way; it was rude of me.'_

"So you were part of the army's intelligence?" Unohana asked with a softer voice.

"Not at the beginning." Yume answered, softening his tone as well. "I started low as usual, but in a war like there were many opportunities for me to prove my skills so I ranked up fairly quickly."

The redhead crossed his arms and pouted like a child. "And, just so you know, my strategies helped to save many people's lives."

The female captain couldn't help but chuckle at the redhead's expression. "I have no doubts, Yume… and I'm sorry for what I said earlier."

"It's okay." Yume said, dropping his arm and smiling friendly to Unohana.

"Now, why didn't you come back after the war was over?" The female captain asked.

Yume started scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"That's hard to explain, Retsu-san." The redhead said. "There were two main reasons. One: I couldn't just disappear after the war was over; I built quite a reputation to myself so my opinion was required in the post-war arrangements. Two: due to the amount of deaths, there were many souls wandering about, so I stayed to collect them before the Hollows – they may be rare to find in Europe, but they do show up some times."

"After those two problems were solved, many years had passed me by. I…" Yume stopped and bowed his head in shame. "I didn't know how to come back. I knew I couldn't just show up saying: Hey, I'm back; sorry for taking so long in the Human World."

Unohana stared at the redhead's sad expression with understanding eyes. _'Yume, you do feel guilty for leaving the Seireitei. It was not an easy task, but you did it anyway because it was the right thing to do.'_

"It's okay, Yume." The female captain said softly, laying her right hand on the redhead's shoulder. "I don't resent you, and I'm sure no one will. You did what you did because you wanted to help… I'm proud of you, Yume."

At hearing that, the redhead raised his surprised gaze to Unohana, who had a gentle and understanding smile on her face. The redhead felt a relieved smile tug at his lips and he laid his hand over Unohana's.

"Thank you, Retsu-san."


	20. Chapter 19

**Hello people!**

**First of all, thank you very much for the reviews and favorites. They were a huge boost for me to write this chapter. =)**

**As you can see from my delay, I'm still going through a major author's block to this fic. T.T So... I'm really sorry, but I don't know when the next chapter will come up; though I will try my best to post it as soon as possible.**

**Hope you like the chapter!**

* * *

-With Shi and Gin-

After Shi's little misunderstanding of Gin's sarcasm, both ended up walking aimlessly around the Seireitei.

"Ya know…" Began the 3rd division's captain with an easy-going voice. "Ya're dealin' with things quite well, Shi-chan."

Shi looked up to Gin with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Ya jus' agreed in spendin' pretty much all of yer free time here in Seireitei, trainin' ta become a shinigami. Won't ya miss spendin' time with yer friends of the Human World?"

"Ah… you think that my choices will damage my social life in the Human World." Shi resumed. "Do not worry, Gin-san, my social life will remain intact."

Still grinning, Gin looked down at Shi with a doubtful expression. _'How does he manage to make such expressive faces with his eyes closed and his mouth frozen in that ever-lasting grin of his?'_

"How?" Gin asked simply.

"That is very simple, Gin-san. My social life will not be damaged because it does not exist" Shi spoke matter-of-factly, though her voice carried some sadness as well. "I spent most of my free time by myself, so coming here on weekends and holydays is not really a big deal for me."

"Wow, that's boring." Gin stated. _'That's actually kind of sad. Mayb' I should give her a hand here in Seiretei… Better yet, I'll introduce her ta Rangiku, she's the most qualified for this kind of stuff. Not ta mention that people here don't lik' me much.'_

"There is lots of stuff to do by yourself, you know." Shi said with a defensive voice. "I can spend my time reading, watching movies, visiting museums, playing the piano, listening to music, playing games, cooki-"

"Ok, ok. Ya're livin' the dream; I get it." Gin said, amused by the girl's reaction. "What about Yume-chan? Don't ya spend time together?"

"Of course we do." Shi replied. "But master has to work so we only see each other at night during week days. We spend more time together during weekends and his vacations."

"Yume-chan actually works there?" Gin asked surprised.

"Yes, he does." Shi answered. "But I understand your surprise, Gin-san. Even I did not know the details myself until earlier tonight."

At hearing that, Gin had to make quite the effort not to widen his eyes in shock. "How didn't ya know that?! Sinc' when do ya live together?"

"Master and I have been living together for four years now." Shi answered slowly, not understanding why Gin was so shocked about the fact that she didn't know so much about Yume's work.

"And ya never asked about his job?" Gin asked with an incredulous voice.

After that, Shi got silent and turned her gaze from Gin to the ground, furrowing her eyebrows in concentration. _'Gin-san is right: how could I never ask master about his job? Am I that self-centered?'_

"Well, when I was a child, my curiosity never turned to master's job… I was more interest in playing around than in talking." Shi began with a thoughtful voice. "But that is something to expect from a kid. Though, why I never asked about his job even until tonight is quite a mystery even for me…

Gin limited himself to observe the girl analyzing herself. _'What are ya tryin' ta be, Shi-chan? Yer own shrink?' _

The sliver-haired males watched Shi's expression turn from concentrate to curious as she raised her gaze to stare at his closed eyes.

"That was selfish of me, right, Gin-san?" Shi asked.

"Are ya really askin' me that or is it a rhetorical question?" Gin asked back, truly not understanding the girl's intentions.

"I am really asking you that, Gin-san." Shi answered softly. "I try to analyze everyone around me and all, but I am not good in understanding people's emotions, including my own."

"I see..." Gin stated, nodding his head. "Well, selfish is a word too strong ta describe yer attitude, after all ya were jus' a kid, neh?"

"Well, yes… but I should have asked that to master before." Shi said sadly, casting her eyes to her moving feet. "Now that I think of it, I have never showed much interest in master's life; most of our talks were about something superfluous or about myself."

Gin dropped his smile as he watched the girl's downcast eyes fill with tears, though she was doing her best to hold them back. _'Are ya kiddin' me? Don't cry, Shi-chan; I really don't know how to comfort someone.'_

"I am so selfish." Shi said at last, with a resigned voice and stopped walking; tears were streaking down the girl's face as she rubbed her eyes. Gin ceased his movements as well and turned to the girl, watching her cry silently.

"I am sorry, Gin-san. I am crying and bothering you, who I barely know, with this." Shi apologized, trying to stop her tears. "I am so weak; crying like a little girl."

"It's okay, Shi-chan." Gin said hesitantly, with an uncomfortable expression on his face. "It's not lik' I hav' somethin' better ta do. So ya can cry as much as ya want." _'Though I wish ya didn't cry at all; it does mak' me feel quite uncomfortable.'_

Shi raised her slightly swollen eyes to Gin's face for a millisecond, then casted them down again. _'Come on, Shi! You are doing it wrong; you do not cry and complain about your life to a stranger; it will only push the person away. Now, stop crying like a baby!'_

'_**Don't be so harsh on yourself, child. It's natural for one as young as you to have little emotional break-downs like this one.' **_Came Kokoro no Kagi's reassuring voice.

'_I am fifteen years old, Kokoro no Kagi; I am not that young.' _Shi thought back annoyed. _'And it is not natural for one to cry in front of strangers.'_

'_**And how would you know that? You said yourself that you don't talk to anyone besides Yume; so there's no way you'd know how a person behaves in front of a stranger.'**_

'_Touché.' _Shi thought in defeat.

Gin just stood there watching Shi's expression turn from sad to annoyed, then form annoyed to defeated/resigned. _'She mus' be talkin' ta her zanpakutou. I better giv' her some tips about how to communicate with a zanpakutou in public without showin' people she's doin' it.'_

'_**Or you could get amusement from the funny expressions she makes before she learns that on her own.' **_Came Gin's zanpakutou's, Shinsou, voice.

'_Yer idea seems funnier, Shinsou.' _Gin thought back. _'I think I'll do as ya say.' _

'_**I imagined you would.' **_Shinsou said amusedly. _**'Now, do get her to stop crying; it's not nice or funny to watch a girl cry.'**_

'_No need ta tell me that.'_

"Hey, Shi-chan," Gin began excitedly. "do ya lik' persimmons?"

Tears no long flowing, the young girl raised her buffed eyes to the grinning man in front of her.

"Y-Yes." Shi said sniffing.

"Then come with me, will ya?" Gin asked/ordered, grabbing the girl's hand and pulling her towards his division.

Shi's eyes widened in surprise, but she let herself be dragged by the 3rd division's captain, who was grinning down at her by over his shoulder. _'Where are we going to now?'_

* * *

- In the 3rd division-

Shi was standing in the middle of the permission trees, looking around like the place was from another world. _'Why would the captain of the 3__rd__ division cultivate persimmon trees? It seems to be an unnecessary effort.'_

Gin watched the girl's confused and analytical expression with his trade-mark grin on his face.

"Don't jus' stare at the trees, Shi-chan." Gin said, taking a persimmon from one of the trees and throwing it to the girl. "Try one."

Shi grabbed the fruit and stared at it for a while with a blank gaze. _'I do not understand; why did Gin-san bring me here all of sudden? I do not see any connection between this place and our conversation earlier. Wait! Maybe… that was his intention?'_

Gin observed the girl in silence with a slightly apprehensive look on his face. _'Come on Shi-chan, knock this look outta yer face and go back ta yer happier self.' _

The 3rd division captain had to hold beck a relieved sigh when he saw the corner of Shi's mouth turn upside, forming a smile.

"You brought me here so I could take my mind off what I was talking about earlier…" Shi said softly, raising her eyes from the fruit on her hand to Gin's closed ones. "Right, Gin-san?"

Gin just nodded, stretching his trademark grin across his face.

"Well, thank you." Shi said smiling softly. "And I am sorry for blabbering like that."

"Let's jus' talk about somethin' els', okay?" Gin asked. "Lik': how was in the Central 46, Shi-chan? Anythin' interestin' happened there?"

At hearing the fox-like man's suggestive tone, Shi's soft smile turned to a nervous one. _'I guess he did not forget about our agreement, huh?'_

"What do you mean, Gin-san?" Shi asked, feigning ignorance.

"Don't play dumb with me, Shi-chan. Ya know very well what I mean."

"Ah… you are talking about our agreement, yes?" Shi said, her nervous expression giving place to an apologetically one. "Sorry; I forgot about that."

"Ya're forgiven." Gin said, patting the girl's head; not really buying her story. _'She doesn't seem ta be a liar, but she does lie pretty well.'_

Shi couldn't help but narrow her eyes and bite her fruit angrily. _'I am not a dog, so do not pat my head as if I am one!'_

Noticing Shi's irritated demeanor, Gin dropped his hand and started to pace among the trees, but kept himself close to the girl so they could hear each other.

"Now, did ya find somethin' that I can use in my pranks?"

"Well…" Shi began nervously, after swallowing the piece of fruit in her mouth. "I do not know if what I found will be of any help to prank the Central 46, Gin-san. Actually, I really do not think I discovered something that you do not know already."

"I doubt that, Shi-chan." Gin put in casually. "The only thing I know about that place is what the people in there do, so anythin' ya've noticed there will be somethin' I don't know."

"If you say so…" Shi said.

'_**So, you'll tell him what you saw there, child?' **_Kokoro no Kagi asked.

'_Yes. Why? You think I should not?'_

'_**That's really your decision, child.' **_Kokoro no Kagi replied. _**'I can't give you advice on that matter.'**_

'_Well, Gin-san has been nice to me.' _Shi concluded. _'And I did promise I would help him on that, so I guess I will tell him.'_

"Now, there are two things I noted in the Central 46:" Shi began with a business voice. "One: they have cameras installed on the corridors that lead to the place where the judges and wise men are."

"Now, that's interestin'." Gin said walking from behind a tree and into Shi's camp of vision. "The cameras were easy ta find?"

"Actually, I did not see any cameras." Shi explained, fixing her gaze on Gin. "I know that there are cameras on the corridors that lead to the room because I fell on my way there and one of the judges mentioned that they knew about that, before I was able to."

Gin couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "That mus' have made ya quite embarrassed, neh?"

"The second thing I noticed:" Shi said loudly, ignoring Gin's statement, though she was blushing in embarrassment. "On the first corridor I crossed to get to the main room there were many doors that opened by themselves, one after the other, very quickly. But they take quite a while to close; the doors only began to close themselves a few moments after the last door opened. Also, I noticed that there was a red light on each door; probably an infra-red signal that induced them to close themselves."

Then, Shi took another bite of the fruit in her hand, staring at Gin's face with attentive eyes, trying to see if she found anything that gave away his intentions. _'Nothing. With that grin and closed eyes, his face gives away less than a poker gambler!'_

"Guess you were wrong, Shi-chan." Gin said at least. "There's one thin' I can do ta prank the Central 46 with what ya gave me."

"And what would that be?" Shi couldn't help but ask.

"Ya said that the red dot on the doors might be an infra-red sign to control them, right?" Shi nodded. "With a little help form the 12th division, I can mak' a mess with that. Hehehe; the Central 46 will spend some days with their doors openin' and closin' lik' mad."

Shi's face was blank at hearing that. _'I guess he did want the information about the Central 46 just to prank its members. And that prank is so lame… maybe I overestimated his witty; I guess I do not need to be as careful around him as I first thought.'_

"Wow…" The girl said with a monotone voice. "That sounds like a boring prank, Gin-san."

"Why's that, Shi-chan?" Gin asked, raising one of his eyebrows to the girl.

"One: I do not think it will be that easy to mess around with the Central's machines, even if you get Kurotsuchi-sama to help you – something quite unlikely to happen. Two: I doubt that the Central would divulgate something wrong with their security system, so you will not find out if the prank worked out well or not. And three: **if** you succeed, you will not be there to see the judges and wise men's irritation, so you get no amusement doing that, hence there is no point in that prank."

Gin's grin gave place to a frown. "Ya're a joy-killer, did ya know that?"

"I am not." Shi denied with a smirk on her face. "I am just stating what would most likely happen if you tried that prank."

"Ok, ok. I get it." Gin said with an annoyed voice. "Jus' forget I ever said that, okay?"

"As you wish." Shi said with a superior voice, full of amusement.

Gin let out an irritated sigh and turned his back to Shi as if he was a child denied some toy. As soon as his face wasn't visible to the girl, a huge grin - even larger than his trademark one – stretched across his face. _'Now, not only she believes that I only wanted the information ta prank the Central, but she also thinks I'm a little on the dumb side.'_

After some moments of silence, Shi walked towards Gin and pulled his sleeve lightly. Annoyed face back on, Gin looked down at the girl who was staring at him with an apologetically expression on her face.

"Sorry about bursting your bubble, Gin-san." Shi said softly, though her voice still carried some of that superior tone in it; Gin pretended not to notice it.

'_Ya're a little bit on the arrogant side, huh? That's bad, Shi-chan; it only mak's ya underestimate yer opponents. I gues' that's one of the many things I'll have ta teach ya when ya work as a shinigami of my division.'_

Gin nodded his head and his trademark grin stretched across his face once again, making Shi smile to him, relieved that the silver-haired male wasn't really mad at her.

"Can I ask you something, Gin-san?" Shi questioned, letting go of the man's sleeve.

"Fire away."

"Why do you cultivate these trees?" Shi began, looking up at Gin with curious eyes. "It must be troublesome to take good care of all of them… It would not be easier to simply buy the persimmons?"

"Indeed, it would be easier." Gin agreed. "But I have personal reasons to maintain these trees."

"What kind of personal reasons?" Shi couldn't help but ask.

"To explain that to you I would have to tell you some part of my life history." Gin said, imitating Shi's voice and manner of speaking. "And I do not feel comfortable to tell that yet, sorry, Shi-chan."

The girl couldn't keep an amused smile from stretching across her lips. "Repeating my justification for not telling you why I want to find out about my reiatsu, Gin-san? That is a childish pay-back."

"I'm a childish man, Shi-chan." Gin stated, widening his grin.

"Indeed, you are." Shi agreed letting out a soft chuckle. "I guess that is why I like spending time with you so much, Gin-san."

"If ya lik' spendin' time with me, wait 'till ya meet my friend tomorrow."

"What are you talking about?" Shi asked, staring at the grinning man with a confused expression. "Is there something planned for tomorrow? Yamamoto-soutaicho did not tell me anything about that."

"No, Shi-chan…" Gin began amused. "I'll introduce ya ta my friend – Rangiku is her name - on my own. She'll help ya fit in here in Seiretei; give ya tips, introduce ya ta the other shinigami, this kind of stuff."

"I am sure I can manage on my own, Gin-san." Shi said, failing miserably in putting some sort of confidence in her voice. "There is no need for you to bother your friend with this."

"Shi-chan, ya told me that ya didn't hav' a social life in the Human World, ne?" Shi nodded. "I'm pretty sur' ya'll need all the help ya can get; one doesn't spend fifteen years without friends for no reason, ya know? Rangiku is very social and easy-going; she'll get ya ta make friends here in Seireitei in no time. And it'll be no bother for her; actually, I think she'll have a ball in, let's say, 'coaching' ya."

"Are you sure, Gin-san?" Shi couldn't help but ask, and it was obvious that she was actually happy with the idea of having someone to help her to mingle with the others.

"Shi-chan, Rangiku and I met when we were kids." Gin explained, looking down at the girl with a cocky smirk on his face. "I know my friend."

Smiling thankfully, Shi nodded her head. "In this case, I am looking forward to meet your friend, Gin-san."

After saying that, the girl ended up yawning for some good ten seconds, making some tears form in the corner of her eyes.

"Sorry about that." The girl said as she rubbed the tears and sleepiness off her eyes.

"No need ta apologize." Gin reassured, his grin softening into a smile. "Ya mus' be very tired after everythin', not ta mention that it's past yer bedtime already. Come; I'll tak' ya to the 4th division so ya can get ta sleep."

"Thank you." Shi said softly and both began to make their way out of the 3rd division.

"By the way, I do not have a bedtime." Shi stated as they were leaving Gin's division. "I am not that young, you know?"

Gin looked down at he girl, eyebrows raised in amusement. Noticing the fox-like man's gaze, Shi looked up with a nonchalantly expression on her face.

"Just thought you should know." The girl said shrugging her shoulders.

Gin couldn't help but chuckle.

* * *

- In 4th division -

After bidding good night to Gin, Shi went to her room in the 4th division. _'Master must be sleeping already; he does not like staying up late.' _

Well, not only Yume was awake, he was waiting for her arrival, pacing in the girl's room as a worried father.

"(yawn) Hey, master." The girl greeted sleepily in a low voice as she walked into her room. "I did not expect you to be awake (yawn); it is past 11:00 pm."

"Exactly!" Yume exclaimed in a whisper. "Why did you take so long to come back? What were you doing all this time?"

"I was just chatting with Gin-san." The girl explained nervously. "I am sorry (yawn); I did not see the time pass." Then her nervous expression gave place to a curious one. "What time did you arrive?"

Actually, Yume had arrived just a few minutes earlier, so that made the redhead blush in embarrassment.

"That's not the case; I'm an adult." Yume said at least. "Hence I don't have a curfew. But you do! And I don't want you staying out on your own so late at night."

"But Gin-san was with me, master." Shi whined.

"You know that statement doesn't help your situation, right?" Yume asked. _'It actually makes things worse. A girl alone with a man until late at night.'_

"Why (yawn) not?" Shi asked, truly not understanding what the redhead meant. "You said you didn't want me out on my own at night, right? I was in Gin-san's company."

Yume stared down at the confused girl with an incredulous expression. _'She honestly doesn't know what I'm talking about… Well, at least, that lack of common-knowledge assures me that nothing happened.'_

"You know what? Forget about it." Yume said tiredly, walking towards the door. "Let's just go to sleep."

"Wait, master!" Shi asked in a desperate whisper. _'I have to, at least, ask how things were with Unohana-san. No matter how bad I just want to go to bed.' _"Eh… How was your evening? (yawn) Did you get to explain things to Unohana-san?"

Yume furrowed his eyebrows at her. "You really want to know about that?" Shi nodded, sleepy tears forming on the corners of her eyes. "Well, I explained to Retsu-san what made me leave Seireitei and then we just chatted a little. It was nice."

"That is nice." Shi spoke, smiling up at Yume. "You can talk about it little more if you want to, master." Shi suppressed a yawn. "I would like to hear it."

"It's okay, Shi. You're tired; I'll tell you more about it tomorrow morning." The redhead said, smiling back. "Now, go to sleep. It's late already and you had a full day."

"Alright…"

Shi walked towards Yume and kissed his cheek. "Good-night, master."

The redhead planted a kiss on the girl's forehead. "Good-night, Shi." Then he walked out to his room.

After Yume was out of the room, Shi let out a tired sigh and walked towards the bed. _'Sleep! Glorious sleep!' _The girl didn't even bother to change her clothes; she simply took off the shihakushou's outer layer and laid down_._

'_**Aren't you forgetting something, child?' **_Kokoro no Kagi asked.

'_If you are asking me this, it means I am.' _Shi answered. _'What am I forgetting, Kokoro no Kagi?_

'_**You promised to me and that brat that we'd talk tonight to settle things between the three of us. Though, if you wish, I can simply lock him on the back of your mind and be done with it.'**_

'_No locking anyone anywhere. We will talk.' _Shi stated tiredly. _'Guess I will not be able to sleep right now, then... Well, that sucks.'_

'_**On the contrary, child.' **_Kokoro no Kagi spoke softly. _**'It'll be easier for us to talk in your Inner World while you sleep.'**_

'_Thank God.' _Shi thought, closing her eyes and rolling to her side. Soon she was fast asleep.

* * *

**So... how was it? **

**I found it very hard to go back to writing from a third person's POV, since I'm using a 1st person's POV in my other fics... XP **

**Still, I did my best to follow this fic's writing style. I just hope it was as good as you all deserve...**

**And, like last chapter, I'm really sorry for taking so long. =(**


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